Happy 7th Birthday My Gabba!

 Happy Birthday my Gabba Raba Ding Dong!

(Yes, that is her nickname!)

Today you turn 7 years old,

my oldest daughter. 

7 years ago you came into this world and made me a mommy,

and since then you have shared all these firsts with me,

paving the way for your sisters to follow.

You are a joy, a challenge, a mystery, and an adventure for me.

You make me try hard to be a better mom,

and make me smile with your creativity and spunk.

But there is such a sensitivity to you...

all of our friends comment on your sweetness.

I love your drawings, your passion for the animal world, and your deep thoughts.

My Gabriella Rae, you are a wonderful daughter whom we love so very much.

Thank you for all you do and all you are. 

I can't wait to journey into 2nd grade homeschooling with you,

watch you discover all that there is out in this world for you,

and be there for you, no matter what. 

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Happy 4th of July!

Today we decided to skip the parade and go to the zoo to see some patriotic animals.

We are all feeling a bit "off" lately at Casa de Krebs...

bad tempers, tiredness, teething, stress...

so we are taking it sort of easy today,

instead of trying to fit in parties and festivities.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Happy 4th of July to all!

(Now to go pop some popcorn and watch Independence Day!)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my awesome husband Klint!

You are a father that the girls look up to,

whether you are cooking with AJ or playing Nerf guns with Gabby,

you always listen to them,

teach them to love and have fun,

and it shows how much you care.

We all thank you,

for all your sacrifices and patience.

Here's to your first of many Father's Day

as daddy to three little girls!

Love you lots!

Thoughts on Motherhood

I started writing this post, thinking that I had some inspirational insights to motherhood. Then I realized that this whole blog is about motherhood. It is something I am and I practice everyday, 24/7. I craft for my kids, take photos of them, advocate for their education, cheer on their accomplishments, encourage them with their challenges, and teach them everything I know.

Mother's Day is a reminder that even though my own mother was not a good example of parenting, I will be a good example to my girls, setting them up to be good mother's themselves someday. Being a mom is a tough job, I don't think anyone will argue with that. But for me it is something that I wanted to be more than anything and I never forget that not everyone is as lucky as I am.

These three little girls who call me mom are my world. They inspire me, challenge me to be the best "me" possible, and love me the way no one else can.

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms, mom-to-be, mothers of angels, and mother's in spirit. Enjoy your day!

Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter

from

my family to yours!

Today I am....

:making: these cool message Easter eggs... seems like the blog-sphere is all agog over eggs filled with cool things! Cupcakes baked in eggs, eggs filled with candy... where does the fun end?!

:playing: with these tumble bunnies with the girls. Who knew that paper and marbles could be so entertaining? (and best of all it is a free printable!)

:hoping: that all the baking that I am doing will earn me these pretty measuring cups from Anthropologie... they would look so pretty on my counter next to this salt and pepper set from Mod Cloth!

:loving: this adorable ballerina shirt and thinking about how I can make it myself with freezer paper and tulle!

:wishing: that I would have seen this Zombie Easter bunny before it sold out... I know what Klint is getting next year!

:looking: around the house to see what piece of furniture could do without it's drawers so that I can make a dollhouse for AJ and Moira like THIS, lol!

:gathering: materials from nature to make the girls some beautiful instruments just like this one... so pretty and clever!

 :helping: Klint take some bokeh photos likes this and this by making his own filter. Who knew it was so easy to create these magical photos?!

(Speaking of photo-taking... I can't, for the life of me, get AJ to look AT the camera!!! She looks everywhere else and throws off the whole shot constantly... AHHHHH!!!! Any tips?? I think that we will be making a "Lens Buddy" like this so that she has something specific to stare at...)

:reading: the second installment of The Walk Series by Richard Paul Evans called Miles to Go... great book!!!

OMG! I NEED to do this with my hair!!!!

Finally, I just discovered a cool blog call A Beautiful Mess thanks to this post featuring way cool looking braids... then I saw the posts about tattoos and I was HOOKED! Looooooove it.... (and wondering what excuse I can have to get more tattoos now!)

Easter Coupons for Kids

This Easter I am planning on hiding some cute Easter eggs around the house for Gabby and AJ to find. But instead of putting only candy in them I am going to put these coupons in them as well as some money to spend. I found some giant jewel-like eggs at Target and am going to put the really special ones in them, like "No Chores" and "One Spa Day with Mommy". I think that the girls will be really excited to have special coupons that give them fun filled days! Feel free to grab it too from my Flickr... there is another version of it too that is slightly different. =)

(Sorry that it is so girly... being mommy to 3 girls will do that!)

Some Monday Luvin'

Well another Monday is upon us and here are some things I am LUVIN'!

♥ This year I am hiding the baskets as always, but am going to use this adorable set of printables to create a scavenger hunt for the girls!

♥ I used to have a bad habit of biting my nails and will still catch myself going for a nibble when I am bored.... maybe if I did my nails like these I wouldn't dare!

♥ I have a lot of art ideas stored up for this week... definitely love these cute (and recycled) egg carton bunnies and chicks. Super Cute! (Also perfect for Earth Day which is on Friday!)

♥ Of course, these pretty plastic egg blue birds are cute too.... lol...

♥ Everyone this year seems to be forgoing the store bought dye for the eggs and turning to the kitchen for color. I love the colors and recipe ideas here as well as the other uses!! Here is another good source for dye inspiration....

 

♥ And if you want an alternative to the usual candy filled basket that doesn't last through the year, here is a great post that shares some alternative ideas!

So there is some Monday luv for you all! Have a great day!!!

A Deliciously Easy Project!

This project was sooooo easy, I can't believe that I waited all this time to try using freezer paper to stencil shirts for the girls!

The little ones are getting their photo taken this week with REAL bunnies and while I enjoy poofy dresses as much as the next mama, with no where to go on Easter there just didn't seem to be a point to buying them only for a photo. So I decided to make cute shirts to wear with jean skirts (or jeans in Gabby's case!).

There are tons and tons of great tutorials out there for freezer paper stenciling. It is truly easy and the possibilities are endless! For this project I just found a chocolate bunny silhouette (thank you Google!) and after it was dry and done I hot glued a teeny blue bow to the side of the bunny.

I think I am going to try something a little more complicated for Earth Day that is on April 22nd... maybe a tree or a whale, using more than one color..... My mind is racing now that I know what I am doing and the results were so nice!

Easter Goodies and a Bunny

This Easter we are really cutting down on the amount of stuff we put in the girl's baskets. Instead of filling a plastic basket with junk that will be broken or lost within a day or two we are going to give them stuff that will inspire and enhance.

I ordered some cute unpainted wooden toys from Goose Grease Undone on Etsy, a set of butterflies and a set of dragonflies. Lately we have been painting unfinished wooden eggs a lot and the girls really enjoy watching me paint fairy doors and Spoolie dolls. By getting them their own paintables they can work beside me without taking my store supplies, lol!

Some other ideas I have are bird masks- (the girls LOVE birds!),  recycled crayons in fun shapes like these dinosaurs, creative building blocks, and of course, fun soap!

We will give the kids a little bit of chocolate, some bubbles, and a book, but that will be about it! I did, however, make something that I should have saved for Easter, but couldn't resist showing Gabby and AJ my creation- Plush Little Pocket Bunnies!!!

These are bunnies that are embroidered and personalized with a special pocket in the back, which is perfect for storing small trinkets and such. They are super easy to make and the girls love hugging them close! I really should have saved them for their baskets but I couldn't resist!!

**I am going to try to post a tutorial tomorrow... they are super quick and easy to make.  I have a pretty nasty cold right now though so we will see.**

Easy Bird's Nest Wreath

Even though it is still wintery here in Cleveland, I am pushing for Spring-ish type weather sooner than later! Here is a how-to for a super easy and really cute bird's nest wreath for your door.

Materials:
2 large grapevine wreaths, one slightly smaller than the other
some decorative moss
fake flowers , smaller ones work better or ones that drape
large wooden eggs
paint
hot glue
floral wire

How To:
1. Paint the eggs, make sure you varnish and dry completely. I made mine sort of realistic, but you can either use pastels or even chalkboard paint so you can write on them!! 
2. Lay the wreaths with the smaller one inside the larger one.
3. Using floral wire, secure the wreaths together, forming a nest.
4. Hot glue the flowers where you want them, I placed mine to go on either side of where my eggs were going to go.
5. Hot glue as much moss as you want around your wreath, put a large piece were the eggs are going to be set.
6. Using a generous amount of hot glue, glue the eggs into position once they are dry.
7. Hang and enjoy!

Voila! You now have yourself a super cute Springtime wreath!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Gabby's science project- dying carnations!

Today we...

* Woke up and put on our traditional Old Navy St. Patrick's Day shirts

* Ate rainbow pancakes that were soooo bright and cheerful

* Looked at our science experiment where we are dying carnations

* Made rainbow noodle necklaces

* Played with some awesome homemade playdough (that smelled like cinnamon rolls, lol!)

* Ate a wonderfully colorful lunch and had some more of those yummy rainbow cupcakes

and enjoyed this beautiful and bright day here in Cleveland!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day friends!!!!

Some Tuesday Luvin'

Happy Tuesday Folks! While getting ready for our first family vacation EVER I am busy packing clothes for the Littles, making some adorable felt finger puppets, and gathering fun ideas for the Homeschooler and the others for Thursday's St. Patrick's Day celebration. Here are some pretty neat things I have found around the web:



I have conquered Rainbow Pancakes, Rainbow Cupcakes, and lots of other rainbow goodies... but these Rainbow Waffles just make me smile!


And after you are done with all the rainbow and green goodies, hop over here to find out how to make these very "bunny" Marshmallow Bunny Plushies... super cute!


Speaking of plushies, if bunnies aren't quite your cup of tea, how about these easy peasy Plush Whales? (Can you tell that my kids have a ton of plushies thanks to tutorials like these?!)

If playing with plushies aren't your kids style, what about these awesomely terrific Dragon Tails for playing pretend with? My kids are dying for me to make some ever since they saw the tutorial up on the computer!!


Ok, enough of the kiddy stuff!! I am itching to put something new on our door for Spring and I think that a Moss Covered Wooden Letter, maybe adorned with a birdie nest and eggs, would be perfect. Get the how-to here... =)


Well, that's about it.... gotta love procrastination ala web-surfing! What are you making this week?

My Cuddly Pot O' Gold!

This was really a fun project!

The girls love their new scarves as did the birthday girl,

who got a pot of chocolate coins.

I can't wait for St. Patricks day now for them to wear their rainbows!

La La Love!!

Wow, what a crazy week! So much to see and make.... I have all the pieces cut out for three pretty rainbow scarves so that will get sewed up today. Also, I am working on making my very own t-shirt rag rug from thrifted tees I bought for a song from the Salvation Army. Already I have three HUGE balls of tee shirts cut and rolled, one more to go. I can't wait to get braiding and such! But, here are some more cool projects that I have seen lately:

How cool are these, right?! I hardly have a green thumb, 

but creating these planters just might get me to actually try to keep my plants alive!

There isn't a tutorial and the actual site is in Russian,

but you can get the idea from here and sort of do your own version!

I love making my own playdough with the kids,

but getting boys to craft sometimes is challenging.

What boy wouldn't want to make his own Lego men though? 

Get the how-to here!

If you visit here often, you know that we are a pretty crafty house.

But sometimes even I run out of ideas for the kids to do...

or they want to do something on their own to surprise me.

This Action Pack is a downloadable PDF for only $5, filled with crafts, food, and fun!

It will be available for download on March 1st HERE!

Last year we did a lovely stack of Rainbow pancakes,

this year I am thinking these rainbow cupcakes might just do the trick!

Find this recipe and others from Family Circle here... 

soo many yummy things to eat!

Subway art is all the rage right now,

get your own St. Patrick's Day art here!

Well, there ya go! There are so many cool resources out there for projects,

it is hard to decide which ones to get done first!

Have a great weekend,

and for all my fellow Cleveland folks- stay warm and safe!

Pot O'Gold Rainbow Scarf

Isn't this Rainbow Scarf darling?

Who knew some fleece and quick stitching could be so much fun?! 

It is a really simple and fun tutorial that would thrill even the littlest leprechaun,

and best of all-

the pot at the end of the rainbow is a pocket!!!!

Skip on over to Childmade Tuorials for the how-to here!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hope you are all having a great day!

To celebrate the year of the rabbit I have made this pretty poster to color.

Click here to download it and happy coloring!!

Here are some other Chinese New Year links:

Chinese New Year Printable Bunny Craft

Year of the Rabbit Roundup by OhDeeDoh

Year of the Rabbit Spoon and Fork Set found here

2011 Year of the Rabbit Letterpress Print found here

Origami Bunny