Pumpkin Carvings: pregnant belly, Olaf, Kapernick passes to ? , fireflies in mason jar, Linus, a marble run

It's been forever since I have posted... been busy i guess...

I went to my friends annual pumpkin carving contest. I had lots of fun, even practiced twice for the event but didn't win. Oh well next time.

The Ultimate LEGO Party

It's time for the end of the year school wide party and the theme this year was LEGO! No it wasn't my idea. Now the parties at our school are big and I was wondering how they were going to out do last years hoedown and they did....
The campus was decked out in bright colors and bricks all week, looking forward to Friday.

                                      Decorations hanging in tree made out of paper plates...

Lego felt bunting added lots of fun color.

Huge posters to color on...

Time to race Duplo blocks

Bowling with Alhambra Water jug disguised as Lego

Build a duplo lego tower.

Race to fill the buckets but you have to pick up with your forearm.

And don't forget the Lego obstacle course.

Kids had to line up go one at a time thru tunnels, 

jump the pool noodle hurdle,

Crawl thru the yarn tent/spider web

Dig in the pool of shaving cream for 3 blue duplo blocks.

and then enjoy a fun slip n slide 

with parents squirting you 

and sliding on dish soap

Some more pictures of the day:

 EVERYTHING WAS AWESOME

The kids had the best school day ever. The parent committee worked a lot on this party and everything turned out perfect.

A fun filled day for the whole school!

Newborn photography: Go Giants

     I got to photograph a darling 8 day old baby named Carson. My youngest baby yet. :) He was so easy to work with. His first time parents were so calm with him. He just needed mama's finger and everything was fine. Such a beautiful baby! Carson was so flexible that we got many different poses including the Build A Bear football outfit. His dad was so excited about the 49er outfit that he said he wished he had gone to Build A Bear for his sons newborn necessities. I thought that comment was hilarious.

Soccer Banner: Polar Bears, Ninja, & Minnion

 Why would a soccer team be the Polar Bears? I always like making the banners until I heard the name was Polar Bears.... But I found a cute template online and decided to make the polar bear look like a Littlest Pet Shop figurine.  Made it in paper first and then put it on to the felt. Turned out super cute . Another Mom made the backdrop and added the silver names.

Here is a step by step look on how to make a soccer ball. Those can be very tricky.

So I coached for the first time this season. It was my daughters U11 team. The first game was a horrible transition because for the first time I just couldn't watch my daughter. I had to care about the whole team. After I got over that initial feeling coaching turned out to be fun. 

Since I coached my daughters team and helped out with the banner I was feeling like I left my son out. So when someone asked if anyone could make a Blue Ninja banner,  I kinda volunteered and said I may have a Black Ninja soccer banner in my garage from another season. Well I must have gotten rid of the banner... I was kind of distant with his coach because his team practiced at the same time as mine at the other side of the field. I never talked about the banner again.. Well the morning of pictures we got a group email saying I hope whoever is making the banner brings it. I freaked out! I had 45 minutes before pictures and I started making a banner.

I cut a black sheet only made half a soccer ball because I didn't have enough time. I brought it to the picture day nicely folded and for some strange reason I didn't run it to the coach.

I showed my son the banner because he was meeting me at picture day. He was not impressed. He said mom why is there only half a soccer ball and where is the ninja? He didn't seem to understand that I knocked myself out trying to make this with everything I had on hand. 

And then that is when I realized that the team had a banner made to order with an awesome ninja. That my crazy mom moment, feeling like you could just cry. I laughed with my friend and then cried and realized then that banners don't really matter that much anyways. And my son got the Ninja he had dreamed of. Why he has been on 3 Ninja soccer teams, I have no idea.

* Just a cute minion banner on the sideline.

Mall Scavenger Hunt Birthday

Happy 10^th Birthday!

Mall Scavenger Hunt

Teams must ALWAYS stay together.

Have fun! Do not RUN!

Photo:

-Photo posing just like a mannequin.

-Photo with one red high heel on.

-Photo with a balloon.

-Group photo on escalator.

-Photo of girls on kiddie rides.

-A group photo with sunglasses on.

-A group photo with Tiaras on.

-A photo of washing your hands at Bath and Body works

-A group photo saluting under the Old Navy sign.

-A photo with the girls and the number 10.

-A photo of girls and something from the movie Frozen.

Collect:

-               A napkin with a restaurant logo.

-               A mall map

-               A perfume sample.

-               A chocolate sample

-               Togo menu from restaurant.

-               Chopsticks

-               A coupon

-               Employment application

-               A Starbucks cup that says Happy Birthday to name of Birthday Girl

                                                                                                                                                   

  Best $5 item with receipt

  Buy a gumball for a stranger.

  Buy a bouncy ball at Old Navy.

  Buy a gift card and put $1 on it.

  You have $6.50 to complete this challenge.

                                                                                                 

  *This party was lots of fun. I think I planned  a scavenger hunt a bit early because after looking for ideas it seemed that it was considered a teen party. But the girls were chaperoned and they felt so grown up. They had a blast. We did it on a week day of spring break at 11:00 so the mall was pretty empty. We met at the food court one hour later and I was planning to buy Hot Dog on a Stick. But when I went to order the computers shut down. I was a bit worried what I was going to feed 12 hungry girls and my mom noticed a sign at Sbarros Pizza 2 whole pizzas for $20! So if you have a Sbarros you are in luck!

   **The items that the girls purchased were put in a pile and raffled off. I would've had them purchase more items because the raffle was a lot of fun. The girls had a ton of fun. We had two teams of 6. Easy party, easy clean up, thrilling for little kids to act grown up.

  ***If you plan on doing this party add a couple of things to the list. They were able to accomplish all in 1 hour.

Newborn Photography: Chalkboard, lace rompers

Got to photograph my youngest baby at 12 days old. Bella is the youngest of five children and her mother is as comfortable with little ones as they come. The photo session went so smoothly and Baby Bella slept pretty much the whole time.
I made this purple lace romper. I cut the top off a newborn onesie. I decided to hand stitch the layers of lace. The final layer at the top is hot glued because I didn't want any stitching to be seen. I used 1.5 yards and bought it at Joanns.  The headband is also a piece of  rosette lace from Joanns.
The chalk board is from Michaels. I used the chalk markers called Craftsmart.
The blanket is from Target.

My other favorite photo from the photo shoot.

Using a white crocheted pod.

I love how the pods make the newborns look all squished like they are still in the womb.

Just like When MY Baby Dreams: Surfer BABY

This photo shoot was inspired by When my Baby DreamsLINK

scroll down on the blog on the link above and see some of the cutest pictures.

It was a fun photo shoot and Baby J was adorable and happy.

I was looking at all the shots on the camera and noticed how it looked like he was surfing. 

Put some fun music to it and it turned out adorable.

Beach Cupcakes

We celebrated my son's 8th birthday at the beach! It was all his idea and it turned out perfectly. I tried making beach cupcakes and got lots of laughs. I used ritz crackers for sand, olives for shark fins and goldfish crackers. We quickly picked the seashells off so none could eat it.

Newborn photo shoots: crochet pod, basket, cheesecloth

Baby Alicia so sweet.

I love how her hand is squishing the beginning of chubby cheeks.

She was only 7lbs

4 weeks old wrapped in cheese cloth on an Ikea blanket

Baby Beka

17 days old and stayed awake for 2 hours!

Such a happy baby and so tiny 6lbs

Wrapped in a crochet pod. I saw the pod on Etsy 

the night before and really  wanted one. 

No time to order and get it here in 18 hours 

so I watched TV and dusted my crochet skills and made one myself. 

So proud of how it turned out.

Baby is in an oval shaped basket.

Got the piece of fur from Joanns.

Thanks for the idea Mom 1/4 of yard for $5

Baby Boy Tie DIY

My husband has to wear a tie to work everyday. So my son loves ties. We went to Joanns and he picked this cute sports material. Did you know that Joanns has fabric quarters already cut? A quarter is all you need for this craft so it was nice not waiting in the lines.So I checked out a couple of different directions and merged two together.
I wanted a fat tie so I eyeballed it compared to a baby belly and made my pattern. Make sure you make your tie a bit fatter than you actually want it. I sewed the tie inside out and then flipped it back.

My friend's adorable 1 year old. :)

Here are some very clear instructions on how to knot the tie.Instructions Here

Soccer Bows

I don't know what it is about bows.... but I keep making them. The team loved it and they looked so cute running around with ribbons flying. 

They were pretty simple to make.

4 different kinds of ribbon

Hair bands

Hot glue

Needle & thread

 Cut the ribbon to  10 inches
pinch in the middle and make a quick stitch
Tie a knot separately and glue it to the hairband

Super cute and makes  a team feel extra special!

Paper Dresses

I came across an article about a mother and 4 year old daughter that enjoy making famous dresses out of paper. Check it out here I showed the pictures to my daughters and they begged to try it right now! It was raining and we needed something fun to do. It was sure an interesting fun activity.

Fun with Friends!

Lace crowns, angel wings, beautiful multi layer bows and cheesecloth baby photography

After four babies of my own I think I am going into baby withdraw. So to fulfill my needs of babies I photograph them. Make them giggle and enjoy the sweetness of chubby cheeks and goo goo ga. I like to search pinterest for all the latest fads of baby photography.

*I found the lace crown and had to give it a try.
You just need lace, fabric stiffener, paint and hot glue.
Dip the lace in the stiffener let it drip then dry...
Paint it
glue the sides together and store it on a round cup so it keeps shape.
Be ready for a balancing act when you photograph the baby.

*I didn't make the bow. It's pretty amazing and elaborate. The baby's mama made it. She said it is just 3 different flowers put together. The idea is to get different types of material and put them together. so pretty.

* Angel wings cost about $4 to make.
  Just get 2 packages of feathers soft fluffy ones for the top and mid. And long feathers for the bottom. Hot glue them onto a cardboard
I used a baby head band for the straps.

I love this pic. I think the little baby looks like a perfect doll. I like how the cheesecloth frames her beautiful face. This was my first shot with cheesecloth. I can't wait to get a newborn in it.