Painting Letters onto a Canvas

This has been a game changer for me in the crafting world! This trick allows you to paint in any font you want! First, you print off what you want on your canvas. You need to print it in black so it will show up when you turn the paper over. 

Then, outline the letters with pencil on the backside of the paper. It's easiest to see the letters if you put the paper on a light colored surface. I did a couple layers of outlining just to make sure it would show up.

Turn the paper over and place it where you want your letters to go. Tape your paper down so it doesn't move out of place once you've started.

Trace the letters again on the correct side. This will leave a faint pencil mark of the outline of the letters. Be careful not to trace too hard, as you don't want to stretch or dent your canvas. 

See?

 And all that's left to do is paint in the lines!

Cleaning a Microfiber Couch

Our couch was one of my favorite craigslist finds! I love the light tan color, but it shows every water, drool, spit-up, and food stain ever!
Proof:

But I found this pin on how to clean a microfiber couch, and it's amazing! All you need is a spray bottle, some rubbing alcohol, and a scrubby. I sprayed a pretty thick coat of rubbing alcohol on the couch so that it was saturated. You really have to use some elbow grease with the scrubby. I didn't even do the last step with the bristled brush, because I was already super impressed! Here's the after...

Silas is 2!

On Wednesday our little boy turned two years old! We wanted to spend the day filling it with some of Silas' favorite things. The morning started with two of Silas' favorite things...food and Aunt Nee Nee. I made Silas his favorite breakfast meal, cinnamon rolls, and Aunt Nee came over too! Silas spent the rest of the morning hanging out with his friend Abigail. Jack took a half day, and when he came home we took Silas to the park. Then we took him up to the gym on campus to play basketball, but he was more entertained by climbing the bleachers. We ended the day with some friends coming over, a birthday cookie, and presents! We had an amazing day celebrating Silas!

Nana and Papa sent Silas foam puzzle letters and so he woke up to those in the living room and the first thing he said was "oooooo!!!!" Thanks to Nana, Silas also has a shirt with his favorite letter on it.

Silas at the park. I don't think he ever let go of his disc!

 It was a long day for LoLo, but she was a trooper.

Silas blowing out his birthday candle! 

Silas and Malachi playing with Silas' new mini disc golf set.

We have learned many things about Silas this past year. Here are some of them:

Favorite TV show: Wheel of Fortune

Favorite letter: M

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Food: Chicken nuggets & ketchup.

Favorite Fruit: strawberries

Favorite snack: goldfish

Favorite pasttimes: jumping off of things, taking the trash out with dad, playing disc golf, & being outside

Favorite things to say: "Nice shot" "Uh oh" "Awesome!" "Nice!" "I JUMPED!"

Birthday, Kids, & Crafts

I turned 25 this month. A quarter of a century. The kids and I spent a lot of the day at the park. When Jack came home, we went out to dinner and went to a shooting range. I've never shot a gun before, but it was fun. Pictures don't lie...I look pretty hardcore! It's a good thing this picture is from the back, because I'm pretty sure my eyes were closed. Ha!

Jack gave me this awesome Bible for my birthday! It's so pretty, but I know it doesn't stand a chance in my purse, so I made a little cover for it! 

***

Lois turned 5 months old this month. She is starting to sit up on her own. I think she's ready to start solids. She stares at our food, and when I gave her a noodle, she knew just what to do with it! The past week she has been feeling a little under the weather. I think it's just that time of year. She has an ear infection and cold right now. I think she might be the happiest sick baby I've ever seen though.

Yes, I will stay home and take care of you all day!

Lois has eyes for two boys in her life right now...Jack and Silas. She literally does not take her eyes off them if they are in the room. I guess except if there's a camera in the room.

 I think she has got to be teething too! I find her like this all the time! 

 ***

Silas is almost 2! Since we came back from Florida, I feel like he's just grown up. He's been going to bed without a peep, and wanting to help around the house. He's been listening really well, and so I'm really hoping this is a phase that lasts! He is so great with Lois. He brings her toys to play with, and will  get in her face and try to make her laugh, which of course she just eats that up!

CHEEEESSEEE!!!!

To say that Silas loves letters would be a gross understatement! He LOVES letters! He goes to bed with letters on his mind. When he wakes up, the first thing he does is look for his letter "M".  I feel a birthday theme coming on!

Well, that's all the updates for now! 

ABC's

Flop.

This pin didn't go over so well, despite the picture of Silas looking entertained and happy. I was feeling like a stick in the mud, and didn't want to have to clean up a mess, so I tried this. Silas knew it wasn't the real deal, and he wanted to play with the paint outside of the bag. But he humored me, and tried it out for about 3 minutes!

Never Have I Ever...

...cleaned an oven.

 I don't know how I've escaped it for this long. I know you can't be around those types of chemicals when you're pregnant, and since I've been pregnant for majority of the last two and half years, I'll just use that as my excuse :) 

We've lived in this apartment for 2 years now, and our oven was looking pretty gross, so I started looking for natural ways to clean an oven. I wanted to avoid having such strong chemicals in the house with little kiddos around. I found this pin. You just spritz some water on the bottom of the oven, then sprinkle 1/4 inch of baking soda over that. I only left it for about 30 minutes before wiping it off, but I was impressed! 

My oven before. 

 My oven after.

How to Entertain A Toddler: Water Paint

Rain clouds were lingering all morning one day last week, but I really wanted to let Silas have some time outside. I came across this idea on Pinterest. I just filled a cup up with water and gave him a paintbrush, and that made for a happy Silas. 

Pin: Bow Pillow

This last pregnancy with Lois, I was blessed with an abundance of energy during my second trimester. I decided to learn how to sew in order to make her baby bedding. I had some fabric left, and found this tutorial on Pinterest. I'm definitely a novice at sewing, and this pattern was really easy to follow.

I have been on a quest...

...to find the perfect Cinnamon Roll recipe.
The perfect cinnamon roll, to me, is plenty of gooey mixed with plenty of sweetness. I think I found it, so I thought I'd share the goodness.

God is Faithful.

A little over 3 years ago, Jack and I had dinner with my parents. This was the dinner where he told them he wanted to marry me. We both had little, and by little I mean none, in savings and no future jobs lined up. I remember him saying that as far as finances were concerned he would work hard like it depended on him, and pray like it depended on the Lord.  Jack was sure of his calling into the ministry, and he said he was confident that God would provide. I didn't say much that conversation. As a new believer, I wanted to believe that God would provide, but I had just never seen it or recognized it as such.

Fast-forward 3 years, 2 children, and 10,000 wonderful memories later...

We just paid Jack's last tuition payment at Southern!

The Lord HAS provided!

This past month...

...we were blessed with getting to see lots of family and friends!

Our month started with Aunt Carrie, Aunt Sara, & Uncle Adam driving up from Florida to meet Lois and hang out with us!

Uncle Adam & Lo.

 Silas had so much fun with Aunt Sara!

Jack and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! He surprised me by sending me to get a manicure/pedicure, AND he even had a babysitter lined up! We went to Hiko-mon for dinner, and then to Comfy Cow for dessert. 

Look at that awesome Dragon Roll!



Then, Nana & Papa came to visit! It is quite the task to get Silas to look at the camera these days!

Next, we took a 'mini' road trip to West Virginia to see our good friends, the LaRues! Jack laughs at me when I call a three hour drive a road trip, because he's a Jarrett boy, and Jarrett boys like to drive from Florida to Alaska in three and half days, so we'll compromise with 'mini.'  It was fun getting to see all our kids play together! We got to visit their church, and hear Glenn preach. Their faithfulness to the Gospel is always so encouraging.

From there, we headed back to Louisville and were greeted at the door by Ray, Becca, and Levi!  Levi has grown so much since we've last seen him, and he is so sweet! He is walking like a champ! It was so great to see him and Silas play together. One day they will be the best of buds!

Also, Lois turned 3 months old! She kicked it off by learning how to roll over! She's laughing now, and it might just be the cutest sound ever! Silas calls her "LoLo."  She is always watching him as he runs around the house. She's been sleeping longer stretches at night, which has been really nice.

Silas turned 21 months, and he loves to make us laugh! He is also starting to talk more. He knows his capital letters, and he loves pointing out letters whenever he sees them! His favorite letters are M and O. We have had a lot of fun together lately. 

Silas has been eyeing the diving board all summer. He loves to be able to do what the big kids do, and so the last time we went to the pool, Jack took him on it. Without even hesitating he ran and jumped off, and he loved it! 

And that was our month. Boom. Done.

Pin: Cleaning Bath Toys

1/2 cup white vinegar + 1 gallon of water...Let toys soak for an hour, then scrub. 

Vinegar is supposed to be a natural disinfectant, and all the toys looked cleaner, so I will just have to trust that this worked!

A Pin For A Rainy Day: Bathtub Paint

Recipe:

1 Tablespoon cornstarch + 1/8 cup baby shampoo + 1 Tablespoons water + food coloring 

I will definitely do this again, because Silas thought it was so cool that he was getting to make a colorful mess in the bathtub! Next time I will omit the water, because my paint came out a little runny. I was nervous the food coloring was going to stain, but it washed off easily.

A Pinterest FAIL..Frozen Yogurt Treats.

I've seen this pin all over pinterest, where you put yogurt in a ziploc bag, cut out a corner, and squirt it out on a cookie sheet, and freeze it. Mine didn't come out as pretty as the original, but I wasn't even thinking that Silas is wary of cold things. So, he wouldn't even try one! Silas loves yogurt, so it was kind of silly of me to go through the trouble of freezing it when he eats it already. Pinterest fail!

Oh, How Pinteresting.

So, I've been trying some things out on Pinterest lately, but seriously who hasn't been??  The world's largest online slumber party has a way of sucking you in, but in turn, has made me pull out some of my dusty craft supplies! I'm always curious when things are marked as "the best thing ever" because I always want to know if it really is the best thing ever. Some of the things I've tried have been flops, while others have turned out good. This has probably been one of my favorites so far!

Silas' drawer before...

Silas' drawer after.

Here's a link to the pin if you're interested!

How To Entertain a Toddler: Homemade Ramp

This kept him entertained for a solid 10 minutes until the ramp became a sword. :)

Cloth Diaper Review: Bumgenius vs. Fuzzibunz vs. Sunbaby

The cloth diapering party has begun in our household! I've been using cloth diapers on Silas for several months, and I have just starting using them on Lois. I wanted to try a few brands so I bought a few Bumgenius 4.0, several Fuzzibunz Elite, and 12 Sunbaby diapers. These are all one-size pocket diapers, and I chose these so I could use them with both kids. Here's what I think:

Absorbency: Bumgenius and Fuzzibunz are both really absorbent, more so than Sunbaby. I could double the Bumgenius and Fuzzibunz inserts and Silas could use these overnight, which I was super impressed by! Sunbaby worked really well during the day, but I needed to make sure I changed him every 2 to 3 hours.

Fit: Fuzzibunz was my favorite fit. They have elastic on the inside that is adjustable, instead of snaps on the outside, which makes them not as bulky which is why they were my favorite. Sunbaby would be my second pick because you can adjust the hips a different size than the waist, whereas with BG you can't.

Ease of use: Both Bumgenius and Sunbaby are very easy to use. This is where Fuzzibunz loses me. There are 6 pieces of elastic that have to be adjusted on the inside, and especially with a newborn it took too much time to ever find the right size without getting pee-peed on. :) I wanted diapers that I could easily use between both kids, and so these didn't work for us.

Price: Fuzzibunz and BG are about $18 a diaper while Sunbaby is $5 a diaper.

So who wins?
While I can tell there is a little bit of difference in the quality between Bumgenius and Sunbaby, I really don't think there is $13 worth of difference. Because of the absorbency, Bumgenius would be my first pick. I think, however, if I were to order more diapers, I would order Sunbaby and just use the Bumgenius inserts in them.

Some of my Sunbaby diapers...I've said it before, but I'm a sucker for cute fabric!!!