diy: Lovebirds Diorama

so i know valentines day was so last month- but there's always next year. or just whenever, because this thing is cute.

thanks to Pinterest i stumbled across this tutorial by house of humble. an adorable lovebird diorama? heck yes!






super awwww. right?

it was fairly simple, but i will admit that i did do some cussing & i may have burned myself with the glue gun. but i'm no Martha Stewart so all in all it wasn't so bad. i think HOH's is a bit cuter than mine- but alas.

if you want to make your own little diorama learn from my mistakes:

- find the biggest large mouth jar you can. i grabbed a wide mouth Ball jar from the craft store & while my hand fit inside with ease, it seems so small compared to HOH's. it did the job, but if i make this again i'll search for a non Ball jar that is way bigger. i'd also look for a jar with less stuff on it- HOH's jar is nice & clear while mine has more writing on it- so it's not as easy to see inside.

- glue guns are dangerous & evil. watch yourself.

- i found it easier to glue the birds to the stick AFTER putting it in the jar.

- follow the directions on the iron on adhesive (ie: don't do it on your wood floor. my bad)

so there you go- head over to HOH's blog for the tutorial & happy crafting...& other inspirational crafty things.

Carson Optical Giveaway Winner

Random.org determined that comment # 11 is the winner:


So congrats to Allison!

Make sure you shoot (pun intended) me an email with your name & address & Carson Optical will get your package right out to you.

To everyone else- thanks for playing as always & it was fun to see what everyone shoots with! i think there was a pretty even mix of Nikon/Canon & a lot of 50mm 1.8 lenses!

Carson Optical Lens Cleaner Giveaway (& hi)

another week almost done- thank God.

but i've still got one more busy, running around, omg crazy week to go (KB needed another week to recover bless her heart, so next week we're on our own again....oy)...

REGARDLESS! i have a swell little giveaway for you from Carson Optical: Lens Cleaners

have you ever taken a good look @ your camera lens? no? then go do it & then report back with how dusty & smudged it is. yikes.

so now you realize that you should probably clean it- but with what?

your shirt sleeve? a tissue? windex? spit?

how about a lens cleaner made to do exactly what all of the above can't.

that's where Carson comes in. they make some nifty little cleaner pens that are small enough to fit in your pocket or bag & take care of business.

first you start off with this bad boy: the lens brush

this will brush away all of that dust & those small hairs & particles that get stuck around your rim.

then you flip it over & push up the finisher: the smudge remover

this will take care of fingerprints, oils & the ever present jelly smudges that appear on mine (thank you children)

& bam. nice clean lens ready for picture takin'.

pictures like this:



a cute, half naked toddler who is gazing longingly at her feathered friends:

(check out "turbo chicken" in the middle. heh.)

SO- who needs one? or 2? or all 3 of the above plus a few refills? (the refill pack is pretty kick ass because it includes a square cleaner too- perfect for your iPhone or iPad or whatever!)

Carson Optical is kindly giving everything you see above (minus the bebe & chickens) to 1 of my readers.

to enter all you need to to is leave a comment saying hey. you can also feel free to let me know what you shoot with & what your favorite lens is (you don't have too, but i'm nosey).

simple as that.

i'll leave this open over the weekend & announce a winner on monday. good luck!

brynn can't catch a break

poor brynn. for one reason or another i find myself shuttling her to the pedi's office.

usually it's a yeast diaper rash (which, hi- she currently has. however instead of dragging her in i called & demanded they just refill her rx ointment. they hemmed & hawed & told me to just slap some athlete's foot cream on it (don't you think i've tried that already?) but they finally put it through. & what do you know? 24 hours later it looks 95% better. i win.)

but this morning we found ourselves at the pedi because brynn looks like she's gone a round or 2 with Mike Tyson.

she woke up yesterday & her eye looked slightly red & swollen. but i figured she'd scratched it or bumped it & that she was good. i sent her to my mother's who said it looked fine for most of the day- but when she got up from her nap it was all puffy again.

so last night i gave her some benadryl to see if that made a diff. nada. so i put her to bed & figured we'd see what morning would bring.
well this morning it was a bit more red & swollen- but she can still clearly open her eye & there isn't a fever, discharge or pain.

but still- she looks like Quasimodo & googling "toddler has a swolled eye" kicked my hypochondriasis into overdrive so i left work & brought her in.

the pedi dx'd her with the begining of a stye (thought she said she couldn't be certain) & told me to attack brynn with warm compresses. she also prescribed an antibiotic eye drop.

so i dropped back off at my mother in law's & came back to work to google.

i'm not sure if i agree with the stye dx because i can't really locate a problem area. she's just kind of swollen all over her upper lid- you know? but i'm not seeing a bump. but then the other option is Periorbital Cellulitis which frankly sounds terrible (though not as terrible as orbital cellulitis).

so huh. like i said, she has no fever or goopy eye crap & her eye itself isn't red (ie: pink eye) so i guess i'll have to wait & see.

regardless, she was in good spirits & spent 15 minutes happily putting her shoes on & then taking them off. she's incredibly good at it so i think there is a possibility that she's a genius.

now i just need to figure out how i'm going to hold down a thrashing 1 year old in order to douse her eyes with eyedrops....

holy crap. congrats! omg. wtf?!

KB had the baby this weekend. so 2 congrats are in order.

one: to the happy parents. yay for babies!

two: to KB for not being pregnant anymore...& delivering the baby herself. in the car. like a boss.
yes. you read that right. & "omg wtf?!" is an appropriate response.

i was waiting for baby news so when i saw a text from KB i was like- hooray! but then i read said text & was like- dude. what?!



so let's break this down:
- she's in the car
- the baby says, "yo. i want out. now."
- she had to break the sac of water
- deliver the baby
- then deliver the afterbirth
- whilst taking care of the baby
-...in the car

i read this to the husband who was like, "Good Lord. that woman is a saint."
i concured, & then pondered aloud if this means she's technically a doctor now. & if so, does that mean she needs a significant raise?

she may be overqualified now. just sayin.

after i determined that all was well i couldn't help but ask about the state of the car. i mean, hello- you just had a baby in your car. that can't be pretty.

she quickly informed me that it was her sister's car (dude- i think someone is getting a good Christmas present this year) & that yes- a hardcore detailing is in order.

i'm imagining the conversation that would accompany dropping the car off:

"ok- so you need a full internal detail?"
"yes."
"anything specific you want us to focus on?"
"preferably the backseat."
"ok- any particular reason?"
"...well we had a baby back there. so if you could just make sure to get out all the blood & amniotic fluid, that'd be great!"
"...come again?"

so glad i'm not in the car detailing business.

so once again- congrats to the new parents & KB.
i promise there won't be 2+ weeks of un-folded laundry on your return.
promise.

the month of march

this month has been/is going to be crazy busy.

KB (the nanny) should be pushing out a baby any day now. So she'll be out of commission for 2 weeks. (before you think i'm an evil taskmaster who demands that my childcare provider be back at work within 2 weeks of a child exiting her womb- she's a surrogate for a friend. so while she's in charge of a pretty big piece of the whole "having a baby thing" once she's done her part- she's done. so she assured me 2 weeks recovery was more than enough time. & obviously if she feels that she needs more i'll tell her to take it easy & come back when she's ready. she's pretty awesome right?) So that means 2 full weeks of driving the girls back & forth to my mother's. That's a big deal - time & gas money wise. & considering that we just got our $700+ propane bill in the mail...yeah. my eye is twitching a bit.

but it's doable & i'm very thankful that my mother lives close enough & will be able to watch the girls for 3 extra days per week (she usually watches them on Mondays anyway & my mother in law takes fridays) so while i'm not complaining...just bemoaning. that's allowed- right?

moving on- we're also doing this whole refinancing thing, so we've got a closing to attend sometime within the next 2 weeks.

the husband is also taking his yearly skydiving trip to Florida this month- so he'll be jumping out of airplanes for 4 days & i'll be up here in the north. being cold.

alex starts swim lessons this saturday. i'm pretty pumped about it actually. she already thinks she's a fish, so i'm excited to see her in something bigger than the bathtub. i wanted to get brynn in too but they only had 1 slot- so she has to wait until the next class. which means i have to find someone to watch her for 2 saturdays when the husband is gone/working. blast.

i also had a super nifty root canal. you're allowed to be jealous. & not only does it cost upwards of $2500, it's also a 3 part deal. so last week i got to sit in a chair while the dentist stuck needle sized files into my tooth roots. that was pleasant. & afterwards (once all the awesome novocain wore off) it felt like he had kicked me in the face. repeatedly. for all i know he might have- i was sort of out of it.
then this coming monday i get to sit in the chair again while he puts in the post & temporary crown. hooray.
then i get to go back for the final crown. gee golly.
& did i mention i had to take antibiotics throughout this- so they're all like, "well, you shouldn't consume alcohol while you take these drugs. it's bad."
...well there goes my method of coping.

i kid. i kid. i don't need an Intervention. although, i've seen the treatment centers those folks go too & they look pretty bomb....so yeah. just sayin...maybe i do need an "Intervention".

pshhhha. there's more- i know there is. my calendar has all these red marks & squiggles & it sits on my fridge mocking me.

but it's all good. because i've got this. & lately, it's been gorgeous outside & my kids have sort of been listening to me. sort of.
& we all have our health, a home, jobs, bills paid, food on the table & good friends. lol- jk. we don't have friends. i've been over this one.

but you know what i mean. we're healthy & happy & blessed.
we're like one of those inspirational wall hanging that you can buy from Home Goods.
don't even act like you don't know what i'm talking about.
& you know you own like 3 of them.

so- right on.

let's wrap this up with a little "what they wore":






brynn
sweater: Target
jeggings: Target
bib: babyGap
socks: BabyLegs
shoes: Vans





alex
sweatshirt: Zara
jeggings: Target
socks: babyGap
bow: etsy

alex's sweatshirt slays me. the little elbow patches- really?! gah!
have a great weekend!

our weekend

this past weekend was pretty kick ass. mainly because we finally had the opp to take our children out to play in the snow.

that's right. it's March in New England & this was, what? the 2nd snowfall? 3rd? if that?
insane.

i'm not complaining- per say- but come on. kids love snow. almost as much as kids love peeing on the floor & smearing cream cheese on the couch.

...or maybe that's just my kids. but whatever.

fun was had by all. the husband & i made a sick snow slide that we gleefully helped shoved our children down. face first. butt first. sideways. all ways.

bad ass parenting right here.

thanks to my iPhone- the outside playtime was documented for your viewing pleasure.






what'd i tell you? fun!

we topped off the weekend with church on Sunday & a trip to Starbucks for "yoyyypops".
i attempted to explain cakepops , but to no avail.

"yoyyypops!"
"actually these are cake pops. like lollipops, but cake- you know?
"...pupcakes?" (kid can't say cup cakes yet)
"sort of- like cupcakes ona stick...but round. get it?"
"...YOYYYPOPS!"

you got it kid.



how was your weekend?

10 things

lately i haven't had much to blog about. you may have noticed this...right? ie: the lack of blog posts.
or maybe you haven't noticed, which means you don't read my blog...

it's ok. i'm not angry with you.

anyway. i've seen this "10 Things" going around on a few blogs. or rather, just 1 blog (the haps) & i decided that this is a good filler. because it's been a week & i feel guilty. perhaps this is a sign that i need a break, eh? meh. we'll see about that.

i digress- 10 things. i'm supposed to show you a picture of me & then tell you 10 random things. then anwer 10 random questions. sound fun. let's do it.

Picture of me:



this is me last year. i was still breastfeeding child #2 so i was super skinny & had a hefty chest. neither of these are any longer the case. pity.

10 random things:

1. i'm obsessed with sloths. literally obsessed. like, kristen bell got that whole video gag from me- because that is my life. i love them so much it hurts.
2. whole milk is my favorite drink.
3. i wanted braces so bad when i was younger that i'd bend paper clips to look like a retainer & wear them.
4. i used to steal everything when i was little. like, i saw it- wanted it- took it. my dad caught me stealing a PB MAX bar once & i was so scared my life flashed before my eyes. all 9 years of it.
5. i'm really good at burping. like a dude.
6. i really like to be liked- if someone doesn't like me it bums me out big time.
7. i went on a missions trip around the world when i was 14- i've been to so many places. Mongolia, China, Hong Kong, Russia, The Phillipines- etc etc.
8. The Gladiator is one of my all time favorite movies. i can watch it over & over & over.
9. i can eat an entire jar of garlic stuffed green olives. & then drink the olive juice.
10. i'm paranoid about getting head lice or any kind of insect infestation. paranoid.

ok- now to answer 10 questions (via mandy):

1. have you ever met someone famous?
yes! quite a few actually- my claim to fame is knowing the guys from Relient K.

2. what is your happiest childhood memory?
i got a Puppy Surprise for my 9th birthday. i legit couldn't speak i was so stoked. it only had 3 puppies though- total bummer. i wanted 5.

3. favorite album of all time?
Third Eye Blind (self titled album)

4. are you a salty or sweet lover?
this is tough- can i say both? but i guess if i have to pick one- salty.

5. what is favorite guilty pleasure tv show or movie?
currently, Grimm.because let's be real- that show is beyond lame. but i love it.

6. describe your favorite sandwich.
a BLT with tons of mayo. so simple yet so awesome.

7. what was your first pet?
my cat. her name was Lady.

8. what is your biggest accomplishment thus far in life?
my 2girls. hands down.

9. what is the first blog you started reading?
wow...um....i honestly don't even know. it might have been harper's happenings- but back when it was via blogger (i think) & then wordpress. yeah. ages ago.

10. if you had to choose one dessert for the rest of your life, what would it be?
brownies. straight up.

ok- your turn! feel free to link up in the comments & i'll take a gander at your 10 things!
(just use mandy's questions- they're pretty genius)