Pirate Themed Party Favor - Monogrammed Towel

I was so proud of the "party favor" that Noah gave out at his Pirate Party that I had to share!

Disclaimer 1: I did not come up with the idea of monogramming a beach towel :)  I borrowed it from Kelli @ Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM!

Disclaimer 2: I absolutely did not sew the letters on the towels.  I have zero sewing abilities, although I have tried on multiple occassions to master sewing.  Maybe one of these days I will take a class and figure it out but for this project I had to outsource to my mom.  I just knew there was nothing else she'd rather do as she wrapped up her summer vacation :)  I do think it's very ironic that the only two pictures I took of the towels before I packaged them up were "T" and "J" which happen to be my mom's initials.  I love when stuff like that happens!

I did, however, come up with the idea and execute it myself for the bag tags!  Any chance I have to use my Cricut machine, I am all over it.  I love that thing even though I really don't know its full capabilities.  It is very easy to use and Noah loves to experiment with it right alongside me.  We even got a Batman cartridge!

I thought long and hard about how to package these up.  Last year we also gave towels (but they were just generic towels from the waterpark where we held his party) and I just tied some ribbon around them.  I wanted to do something different this year but time wasn't on my side.  I ended up grabbing a bulk pack of brown gift bags from Michaels and they worked out perfectly!

Here is the finished product on the day of the party:

I got the towels from Target for $3.25 a towel.  They're just large bath towels and they worked really well in my opinion.  I would have rathered beach towels but I didn't have a lot of time to run around looking for them and after trying three other stores, I gave up and took the easy route.  With a little more time, I could have ordered beach towels online and they would have turned out more like I envisioned but I was really happy with the finished product regardless!

I found the fabric for the letters at Joann's.  Clearly I am clueless when it comes to measuring fabric because I thought I'd need two yards for the 13 towels we made.  Let's just say I have most of it left over.  I probably only needed a half of a yard.  I'm sure Noah will find a use for the rest.

The little stickers on the bag say "Pirate Treasure from Noah".  I ordered these from tinyprints and I love them!  This was my first time ordering from tinyprints but it definitely won't be my last.  I ordered the invitations, address labels, thank you cards and party favor stickers from there and I can't say enough about each item.  High quality and exceeded my expectations!  I will say that they are a bit pricey but I was really happy with their product so it lessened the blow ;)

Thanks for the idea, Kelli!  Noah's friends (okay...really Noah's friends' moms) were raving about them!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Daddy!

Today, August 31st, would have been my parents' 42nd wedding anniversary!  My Daddy went to be with the Lord two weeks shy of their 32nd wedding anniversary...so hard to believe that a whole decade has gone by.

I am so thankful for the example of marriage that I got to see growing up.  Looking back, it wasn't the most realistic view of marriage from the angle I saw it because I only saw the positive.  I appreciate that, though.  I never for a second doubted my parents' love for each other or committment to each other.  They definitely set the bar super high and I pray that Noah and Noelle will share similar thoughts 42 years from now!

miscellany monday

En - I must not take more than a day or two off from running again.  You would think I'd learn that my knee problems are kept at bay if I run regularly.  It makes no sense to me but I have to keep at it until after my 1/2 marathon in December.  Must.make.time.for.running...

To - How comforting to hear the weatherman say "the tropics are very active right now"...or not.  Honestly, I'm one of the weirdos who thinks these storms are cool when they head our way but now that we have kids they have lost their allure.  I've also never been personally impacted (aside from one of our dormer windows being blown out by Hurricane Charlie in 2004) so that explains why I'm not petrified of hurricanes.  I just pray all of these storms stay in the ocean.

Tre - I'm really frustrated at the cost of organic fruit!  It was grapes that set me off during my last trip to the grocery store.  The choice was between pesticide-ridden grapes for $1.99/lb or organic grapes for $6.99/lb - there went another $5 down the drown!

Fire - September 27th is the day that Chili's donates 100% of its profits to St. Jude this year!  Everyone within driving distance to Chili's should try to pay a visit for lunch or dinner :)  We'll definitely be there!

Fem - We did some handprint and footprint artwork this past weekend.  I love doing this with the kids!  It's actually a little frustrating to do with Noelle because she doesn't sit still but the results make it so worth it.  I need to take some pictures of our finished products.  I get a lot of my inspiration here although the ones that we did this weekend were from something I saw a long time ago in a magazine and have done for a few years and a project Noah brought home from preschool.

Seks - Noah and I finally wrote out all of the thank you cards for his birthday gifts this weekend.  I'm usually much better about getting thank you notes in the mail but the start of the school year really threw me off.  I am so happy to have this 'to do' crossed off.  I still need to find time to catch up on so many things but at least this one thing is done.

Syv - I asked Noelle what she wanted for Christmas this year not expecting her to understand what I was talking about or give me a response and this is what I got - "I want Minnie stuff."  Stuff.  Where did that come from?!  She cracks us up!  At least it was better than "Halfie's dead" which is what she greeted Grams with when we picked her up for church yesterday (Alfie is Grams' toy poodle).  We're still not sure where that one came from but the good news is that Alfie is alive and well!

Weekend Wrap Up!

We had a pretty lazy weekend and it was just what I needed after the first week of kindergarten! 

We spent Saturday morning running errands, including spending a Target gift card that Noah got from his cousins for his birthday.  I made the mistake of going to Target first and got to listen to Noah ask to go home for the rest of our time out because he wanted to play with his new toys.  Note to self for next time :)

After some time in the pool, we busted out the sidewalk chalk which provided lots of entertainment!

The kids ended up SO messy so we took really early baths!  The baths were pretty much a waste of time considering we walked/rode scooters to Grams' house afterwards.  This included Noah riding his scooter through a pile of sand and completely wiping out. 

Today we went to church and Chili's - a very typical Sunday for us :)

I am still trying to get a picture where both kids are genuinely smiling...at the same time...Noah is finally there!  I guess I have a while before Noelle catches on!

This one is the closest I've come so far!

The kids continue to get lots of use out of the new pool!

I inadvertently figured out a really easy way to get Noelle out of the pool when I grabbed an ice cream sandwich for myself.  We laughed so hard at how quickly she jumped out of the pool and grabbed it from my hand!  I'm pretty sure she's totally outgrown her milk allergy but we're still being somewhat careful about her milk intake until we have new blood work done. 

Somebody wants to be just like her brother with her matching bookbag :)

We did hit a little milestone today that relates to Noelle and school!  We successfully dropped her off for Sunday School with NO TEARS!!  This is the first time the water works didn't start the minute we dropped her off.  When I picked her up, the teacher said she did great and didn't shed a single tear.  This thrills me to no end because I can't stand watching her get so upset each week!  I really hope this is the beginning of a new stage...

Lizard Drama

Noah has a new fascination, much to my dismay!  He loves trying to catch the lizards who sneak into our screen enclosure.

He was successful this weekend...

He was so happy and so proud of himself...

He thought the bucket made the perfect home for his new pet...

Noelle was just as excited with this new pet...

That is, until Noah decided he would torment her with the lizard and dangle it over her head...

I asked Noah to pose one last time with his lizard before we let it back into the grass...

Boy was that the WRONG thing to say!  Talk about an about face...

We spent the next hour in tears as we tried to process and understand why lizards need to live with their lizard families in the "wild" and not in our house!

Noah: "That was really mean, Mommy, but at least you got a good picture of me and my lizard so I'll never forget him."

Praise God!

I woke up this morning to the update above and it is great news!  I've been following Audri's journey for over two years.  Although I don't know her family personally, I feel as if I do through her mother's updates on her caringbridge site.  Audri is one of the many children who have inspired me to run the St. Jude 1/2 marathon in December.  She is a hero of mine!

Wordless Wednesday - "First Day of Kindergarten"

  

 

miscellany monday

Én - I should pay closer attention to things sent home from school by the teacher. I did a lot of organizing this weekend and one of the things I organized was my "catch-all" basket on the counter.  It had an envelope with a handprint book inside in it that was given to us by Noah's pre-K teacher at the end of the school year.  I have looked at the handprint book over and over again but failed to notice the photo CD tucked inside.  His sweet teacher copied all of the pictures she took of him over the school year onto a CD for us!  I am ever so grateful (and now have another thank you note to add to the growing list)!

To - Growing up, I wouldn't eat sandwiches for lunch so, every night, my Daddy would make me chicken fingers with homeade honey mustard for my school lunch.  Some might call that spoiled.  I call it a good Daddy :)  My kids have that same kind of Daddy.  You know, the kind who methodically separates the Lucky Charms' oats from the marshmallows and replaces them with Multi-grain Cheerios so they're not eating total junk!

Tre - Speaking of school lunches, I found a Bento box at Pottery Barn Kids this weekend. I'm not totally in love with it but it does the trick until I find what I'm looking for online. This was my first attempt at a Bento lunch:

I made Noah promise me he'd eat the broccoli and ham first!  He's smart enough to know that I'll never know but I trust that he has enough integrity to keep his promise.  Wishful thinking!

Fire - I still haven't blogged about Noah's birthday party last weekend.  It's on my to-do list.  Unfortunately, a lot of other things that rank higher are too!  I thought I'd post a picture of the pirate cake fail, though, since I mentioned it last week.

The Florida heat wasn't even the culprit.  Nor was my driving!  It was totally poor structural engineering.  When we dissected it after the party, we found it was held together by plastic straws.  Clever!  Or not...

Fem - I think Costco is genius when it comes to marketing!  The sampling that they offer seems to be a very successful marketing tool.  Or, maybe we're just suckers.  Either way, I have a new favorite potato chip after a shopping trip to Costco this weekend.  And, we have a huge bag of these:

Seks - Our pastor's granddaughter, Ava, is in need of lots of prayers.  In late June, she was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme which is an aggressive type of brain tumor.  It was removed but we just learned that it's back a little more than six weeks later.  This hits really close to home for me as I lost my Daddy to this same type of tumor and I'm a mom.  No mom (or dad) should have to endure seeing their child suffer.  Ava's dad shares his thoughts through his blog and his faith is inspiring.  Our Noah's middle name is in honor of our pastor so you can see how special this family is to us!  The prognosis for Ava is grim but our God is mighty.  I pray that God's will is heal Ava on earth!

Syv - My plan for today is to tackle this:

Why do I let it get like this in the first place?!

Kindergarten Preparations

Today marks the day we meet Noah's kindergarten teacher for the first time and he gets acquainted with his classroom and new friends!

I can't help but feel so many emotions...

I know he will love school.  He loves learning.  He loves being around other kids and makes friends easily.  School is the perfect fit for him.

I just wish I didn't feel so many negative emotions about this milestone.  I am sad that the first five years of his life have gone so quickly.  I feel guilty that I didn't keep him inside of me 15 more days so he would miss the August 31st cutoff to start kindergarten and have to wait until next year to enroll!  I am nervous about him being gone for six hours a day, five days a week.  That sounds like forever right now.  But, this isn't about me!  It's about what's best for Noah and I know in my heart that this is the right move for him.

I was so proud of my husband this week.  We were both apprehensive about the kindergarten teacher who Noah was originally placed with.  He came to our house last week and there were several alarms that sounded for both of us.  I personally wasn't comfortable with a male teacher for kindergarten.  Rob didn't like the fact that he had no teaching history locally so we had no reputation to rely on.  Without me asking, he emailed the principal of the school, expressed our concerns and asked for a change in teachers.  The principal pushed back a bit but he stood firm and we were able to change teachers.  I am so thankful that he did this for us. 

Of course, Noah doesn't understand why Mr. "B" isn't going to be his teacher.  We're just hoping when he meets Ms. "R" today that he hits it off with her and forgets about Mr. B!

School supplies are all purchased.  It amazes me how much a kindergartner is required to buy!

It floored me how hard it was to find 8 and 16 count Crayola crayons!  I finally found them at CVS of all places.  It's all good, though - that meant I didn't have to pay for them since I had Extra Bucks :)
This weekend we'll be on the hunt for a cool Bento box!  I was reading Kandi's blog yesterday and she introduced me to another lunch which opened up a slew of ideas in my head!  Just what I need - another "project".  I'm excited about packing Noah's lunch each day with healthy, organic options.  We'll see how long I can get away with these types of lunches before he protests.  I'm hoping for a long time and I think I have a good shot.  He's the child who has yet to have a sip of soda.  His friends will guzzle it but he tells us he doesn't even want to try it.  Of course, candy is another story but all in all he is a really good eater.  Praise God!  Soda + Noelle is a whole other story...Lord help us!

The countdown begins...FOUR more days until we officially have a kindergartner!!!  My praying is in high gear!!!

Congrats, Brooklyn!

I got a call from my sweet friend, Brooke, yesterday letting me know she is pregnant with her first child!!!  I am SO exited for her and her husband, Brian!  This is going to change their world forever in such an amazing way.  Please pray that her pregnancy is complication-free!

Wordless Wednesday - "Pre-Birthday Party Fun"