May the 4th be with you!

          Back in March the husband and I decided the boys were finally old enough to enjoy their very first Star Wars movie. Truthfully once they got a taste of it from the Lego version they were begging for more Droids and Jedi almost daily. Eric and I did have a minor squabble about which movie to start with... The Phantom Menace or A New Hope... but not to worry I set him straight and we started off right with Episode 4. At the end of the movie, and after Romyn asked why everyone was getting married, I congratulated him and Baelin on officially becoming big boys. (It certainly seemed like a major life event at the time.) Since then we have slowly worked our way to Revenge of the Sith, which we plan on watching on May the 4th...Star Wars Day!
       For the grand conclusion of our epic Star Wars journey I promised the boys popcorn, light-up lightsaber lollipops, Star Wars library books, and new Star Wars t-shirts. Of course, Baelin made it hard on me and begged for a R2D2 one. 
        ".....or C3P0, because they are my favorites.... if they don't have those we can get the silver C3P0, or the red Droid, or the black Droid. I love them all. I love Droids."
         Awww. Except, none of the Star Wars shirts at Target had ANY Droids on them. While mentally making a list of other stores I could search in, and moaning about  just how long that would take me, I spotted the multi packs of white Fruit of the Loom tees and decided painting my own would be a better waste of my evening. (I am gonna crack these out at warp speed!)
        Well two nights, some blue dye, leaky freezer paper, silver paint, the Force, and a Sharpie later the boys are thrilled to have exactly what they wanted. Mostly, Romyn was a little critical I did not fit all of R2 on the shirt. "I can't see any of his gadgets!" (Grumble.) At least they haven't watched the films enough  to lecture me about every detail I got wrong... yet.

                    May the 4th be with you and Happy Star Wars Day! -Kendra

Saw and tried... frozen water balloons.

             Hot summer days are coming and the boys and I are always in the market for new front yard adventures. When I spotted this frozen water balloon activity on Pinterest I thought it could be the perfect way to celebrate the first day of sprinkler weather! It's very easy, all you have to do is pop a few tiny toys into a balloon, fill with water and tuck it into the freezer for a perfect sunny day.
             I handed the boys some buckets and told them they could try and melt free the GoGo's inside. (I originally thought of freezing dinosaurs and handing them little hammers, but decided against it.)  "Oh no! Mr. Freeze is causing havoc with his freeze ray again! He's frozen all these tiny critters!"
(Murrrmmmffffpphhhttt!) "Can you hear them? They're asking you to heeeeeeelp them!"

               Smarty pants Romyn figured he would just smash his on the sidewalk. "NOW THEY'RE FREEEEE!" He did still enjoyed melting away all his new "mini icebergs", which was good because I only had room in my freezer for two balloons that day.
              We did suffer one little mishap. Or at least I suffered it. I made the mistake of handing Baelin his balloon before I had cut the ice free. For some reason he seemed to think it was just a very cold water balloon (despite my warnings it was frozen.) and tried to burst it against a tree which sent it bouncing onto my foot. (Pretty painful.) Luckily I grabbed it up before he could chuck it at his brother! I will be sure to only hand him balloons filled with air or water in the future. He made it up to me however by blissfully playing with chunks of ice for hours while I read in the sunshine. Frozen balloons are a winner! Next time I'll be making more, and probably adding some food coloring. I'm thinking a pool full of dangerous icebergs will make an excellent front yard summer adventure don't you?

Happy May Day everyone!- Kendra

Aztec inspired painted combat boots.

             This weekend was wet and chilly. It was nice to open up our windows, listen to the rain and snack on soup and crackers all day. It also would have been a good time to get caught up on some house work, and I had every intention of doing that! I put some play dough in front of the boys, reminded my husband he has to add water to that can of Campbell's tomato soup (honestly!) and started rearranging a closet. Except... then I found hubby's combat boot stash. (Belleville brand.) He's got a lot of them, and I thought to myself ... I'd wear a pair of these on a wet day like today. Maybe ... if they were polka dotted... or... tribal! Maybe I could commander a pair.
             I dangled a pair in front of his nose. "Hey... can I have these?"
             "Are you going to glitter them?"
             "Nooooo."
             "Then yes."
             Cleaning aborted!!!

                I offered to paint his work pair too... but he declined. Something about "regs" and all that. 
                It's rainy again today, the windows are open, and Baelin and I are enjoying the chilly weather  with hot coco while Romyn's stuck at school. Now I am going to attempt to finish the closet I started... you know... unless otherwise inspired.
                Happy Monday! -Kendra

Crazy easy necklace to headband DIY- (and B.A.I.T. footwear's contest entry.)

          So.... do you have a favorite beaded necklace and ever dream that you could wear it in your hair? I do. I have a few actually, and yesterday I was messing around with them, wishing I could adjust their lengths and playing at wearing them as bohemian crowns. They didn't really stay put, and I didn't want to cut them up or hold them down with bobby pins, so I put them aside. BUT... last night, as I was falling asleep I had a genius idea, if I flipped them around a hair tie, I could wear them as a headband, or a shorter necklace, without any alterations to the necklace! Thank you lucid dreamer Kendra!
          This morning I searched the Internet high and low, thinking perhaps I'd seen this little trick before and just couldn't remember where in my dozy state. I didn't find anything like it. Really, it's so easy it's almost silly to show it off... but.... I am going to anyway! Summer is on the way.... we all need hippie beaded headbands.... and I am thinking this has got to be the easiest way to do it.

             WOW right!? It's so easy. Just grab a few different size rubber hair bands to see which might work best with the length of your necklace. Thread your necklace through the band until it's in the middle and then fold the necklace over. Then you'll be able to spread out your necklace into a circle, hopefully the perfect size to wear as a headband! Try mixing it up with more than one necklace, or if you're feeling fancy, use a ribbon instead of the hair band (or just add one) and you'll be able to tie a pretty bow as well.

           I'll say though, I am most looking forward to using this easy little trick as a quick way to shorten my longer beaded necklaces. Usually I just tie knots in them, or criss-cross it, but they always either come lose or slide around and choke me. (I am always readjusting them.) I'll get more wear out of them now I think.
           If I had figured this out yesterday I probably would've played around more with my entries this month in t B.A.I.T. footwear's "I Wear Pretty Shoes" style challenge. This month's shoe is the Ellie in teal (which are just so cute) and my beaded head band would have been really great with one of the outfits I sent in.... this one....

Ellie photo taken from B.A.I.T.'s facebook page.

                The rest of my entries were mostly shorts and tee's. I had to be honest, I would wear these little shoes with my everyday frumpy playground mom clothes. (Because they are cute and I love them, not because they are frumpy!) There's nothing like a cute shoe to dress up a Jem t-shirt right? Well I hope you all entered this month... if not, do it next month! If you haven't checked out the rules yet take a peek at B.A.I.T.'s blog now! It's lots of fun and a good excuse to dig in your closet.
                 Have a great weekend! - Kendra
                

Sea glass charms....

            I promised a peek at the sea glass charms I made and here they are! I only had enough wire in my craft stash  to make two. One for a necklace and the other for my charm bracelet. (The last bit of wire I just wrapped decoratively around a shard and threw back into my collection jar.)

               

            I pretty much just wrapped them up the way I have seen it done on the beach. However, my mother does has some stained glass tools, and I may be brave and try soldering a piece properly one day. For now I think these turned out great, and I do have another plain silver linked bracelet I might cover with sea glass charms as soon as I get some more wire. (And a ring... I think I'd also like to try and make a ring!) Romyn has his heart set on finding a piece this year to make into a key chain. He really wants a black one.
            "Well, since black is your favorite color today, and black sea glass is really hard to find, you could always find a smooth black sea stone. That would make a really great key chain, you know, until you find that special black glass." He thinks this is  a good idea and I'm glad.... no one wants to leave the beach sad. I'm pretty sure we can at least find a black stone. (Fingers crossed!)


<3- Kendra

A collection of sea glass.

               I love the beach. So...very....much. I love the smell, the wildlife, getting my toes wet, people watching, digging out huge sand forts with the boys, and I love hunting for sea glass. I think searching for sea glass first thing in the morning is probably my favorite thing to do at the beach. (And I am not a morning person... but for the beach, I make an exception and enjoy the sunrise.) Next month my parents have invited us to spend a week with them in the Outer Banks and I am counting down the days... my bags are packed....now I am just waiting....and waiting.... waaaaaiiiiiting....
               While I am waiting, I decided to go through my sea glass collection. I thought I would let Romyn study it closely. Last year he wanted to find a piece so badly, but just kept holding up shinny rocks. (No luck.) Baelin stuck with his Daddy, who found a little green shard and placed it strategically in B's path so he would find it. (I am the bad parent who does not share sea glass. O.K... this year if Romyn doesn't find one I might throw him a bone. But I hope not to have to... the boy is in training!)
              Part of Romyn's sea glass training includes, telling the difference between wet rocks and frosted glass, (Can you hold it up to the sun and light passes through it?) picking out a shard from a pile of shells, and knowing not to pick up the sharp stuff. We visit the local, and tiny, Yorktown Beach often, but as it is a calmer more inland beach and the glass you find there is often in a rawer "gona cut your foot open" sort of state. Not the best training ground for a 5 year old. When I hunt for glass there, it is mostly so I can throw it in the trash before it ends up hurting someone. Anyway... we'll see if his coaching pays off!
               (P.S.- Did you know that the glass you find on these gentler inland beaches is called "beach glass"? The more heavily frosted and worn pieces you would find from the open ocean are called "sea glass".)

 

                   Another thing I look forward to in OBX is the shopping! There are a lot of great thrift, antique and kitschy souvenir shops we love to visit. Something you'll  see a lot of there is pretty sea glass jewelry. I have been close to buying a piece or two, but each time I ended up passing, it just didn't feel right if it was a piece of glass I hadn't found. During Romyn's training I picked out a few bits I liked, grabbed some wire, and set to work making sea glass charms. I'll show those off to you next time, for now I will just show off my collection. The two blue pieces are my favorite. I found them after two frustrating days of nothing, right next to each other in a rock pile that the tide pushed in and pulled out very quickly. I was very lucky!  But I also have a white one that looks like a sneaker I am pretty fond of, it was one of the first pieces I ever found.  

                  Does anyone else collect sea glass? I'd love to hear about your favorite piece or the strangest thing you ever found on the beach. You can bet I will show off any new pieces I find this year. My mother has both a yellow and red piece in her collection, but my fingers are crossed I'll end up with a bit of  purple!

Wish me luck!- Kendra

The bag of badges.... a thrifted find.

        My mother spotted this bag full of old badges at Goodwill and hunted me down in the shoe isle to show off the Popples button she had seen in the mix. The bag was all taped up, so we couldn't go through it, but I saw enough unicorn goodness inside that I decided it was worth fighting her for. (MINE!)
        My thrift shop negotiation techniques are a little below the belt I will admit... "Aw Mom, aren't you a little old for a Popples button? I'll just take this bag off your hands."
        "You're right Kendra, that 'Thirtyish' pin suites you more, you could wear them together!"
        "Ouch." (It's all in good fun, honest.)

               I am pretty proud of my instant unicorn button collection, I have loads of pins but these are my first magical unicorns! I love finds like this, wondering what sort of amazing unicorn loving person all these pins once belonged to is part of the fun! Another is redistributing the pins among friends. The Garfield pin has been added to hubby's birthday pile, the saxophone is for my brother, Popples and unicorns are greedily squirreled away for myself, Caddyshack goes to Gramps, the "Yes! I am pregnant." button gets passed on to my newly knocked up bestie, Romyn's already called dibs on the soccer ball and sheriffs badge, I will sheepishly hand over the "Amazing Mom" pin to the one I stole the bag from, and the rest will go back to Goodwill. Well.... I forgot someone, perhaps you noticed there are doubles of a certain magical Unicorn? I will be adding the spare to my next Happy Prize Pack giveaway! (I've also got a newly purchased China Glaze purple Prism glitter nail polish in there! it's so sparkly!) I will post the details on my Facebook page soon so keep an eye out.

             

And now a peek into the future…

                My boys love to play video games. They don’t get much time in on any one system, they can’t quite keep up with Mommy in Mario yet… oh, I mean they are too young for video games. Anyway, Angry Birds Space had just come out and we made an exception to our limited game time rule to let them just veg out on Grammies couch with her Ipad. They spent most that play date just swapping the Ipad and Kindle fire between them, racing cars and playing Angry Birds. (Little boy heaven.) Eric and I went off to see a movie and once we returned Grammie picked B up to kiss him goodbye, then quickly put him back down.

               “B! Did you pee your pants?!”

               “Yyyyyyah.”

               “On the couch?”

                “Yah.”

Mom looks at me…. great. My 4 year old has not had an accident in months; obviously B hadn’t wanted to stop playing. (Or at least he didn’t want to leave the birds unattended around his brother, and tried to hold it too long.) Mom said it was “creepy.” We had a talk with B about his bad choice, and moved past it. At least until the next day when Baelin got his hands on Angry Birds again…. and wet himself…. again. OK, that is creepy B. (Angry Birds are in a timeout.)

I can see myself 12 years in the future, and in his room I find a receipt for the newest World of Warcraft game and a pack of adult diapers. I am not snooping in there! I was just wondering what the heck that smell is! Already a hardcore gamer at age 4, I think his uncle and Gramps are secretly proud. I on the other hand, would rather be trying to beat his score, than steam cleaning my mother’s couch.

All the best- Kendra