Snow!!

I was beginning to worry that this year my Canadian winter would be snowless.

I was also beginning to get very sad about it.

Yesterday morning when I woke up and looked out my window expecting to still see the grass and saw this

I just about started to cry with excitement!

It's a couple weeks later then I would have preferred but I'm so happy we finally got it!!

Knight Shield

Yesterday morning Zac asked me to play knights.

I was all for it and started my best attempt at being a "knight".

He quickly corrected me by telling me that he needed a knight hat, a knight shield and a knight costume. None of which we had...

We have a whole bunch of boxes laying around the house at the moment, left over from Christmas, so I decided we'd make up some shields in the afternoon.

I took a couple pictures along the way so I could share with all of you lovelies! So if you'd like to make yourself and the little man (men, lady or ladies!) in your life a play knight shield, read on!

You'll need:

Cardboard

Scissors

Paint

Paper

Glue (I used a glue stick and hot glue)

Tape (if it's important to your kids)

Markers/Crayons/Pencil Crayons to decorate the shield with

Cut a shield shape out of the cardboard and a slightly smaller one out of paper. Paint the cardboard shield and write your little person's initial in the center of the paper. (If you're planning on making this with your kid(s), you could always have them paint the cardboard of course. I choose not to as my boys are too impatient with waiting for the paint to dry and I didn't want the drama of not being able to play with it right away...)

Once the paint has dried on the cardboard, have your child(ren) colour/decorate the paper with their initial. Once they are happy with their decorating, glue the paper onto the cardboard (we used a glue stick for speedy drying!)

To put the handle on the back of the shield simply cut out a thin (keep in mind little hands have to be able to get around it) strip of cardboard, fold it about 2-3 inches on each end and press these folded pieces onto the back of the shield. I used hot glue on the handle to secure it in place for the speed of drying and also because I felt like it could take more abuse then craft glue. After it cooled I had Zac put tape over the glued areas so he could feel included... and because he LOOOOVES "sticky tape"!

You can also cut out a sword if you feel so inclined or use those left over wrapping paper tubes!

I was really pleased with this one. I think it's cute and once I got to the point that Zac was involved it was made quickly and he was able to walk away and play with it instantly, no waiting required!

Eli couldn't have been less interested, but having two will work out well...

Zac's really good with his sword.

PS - I recommend the wrapping paper tube swords... cardboard hurts...

The Many Faces of Mr Potato Head

I love Mr Potato Head.

I think he's great fun.

Fantastic fun, even!

My mother in law gave the boys one of those kits this year for Christmas, you know the kit I'm talking about... the one with like 40 different pieces in it...

Yep... Eli and I are loving it!!

There's the Fireman

The Cowboy

(most pieces for this little man actually came from another kit, thanks Cristi!!)

The Strong Frenchman

I like to call this guy "The Bieber"

The Colonel

The Weird Guy

And my personal favourite... the Police Officer!

Ah, Mr. Potato Head! So many possibilities!

Ah, Crafting!!

Tonight I pulled out my scrapbooking stuff and had a great time!

I'm doing a little journaling e-course and decided that tonight I needed to get to it and start!

(I'll show pictures of my little creations shortly)

Mama Mia was on TV the other night and I recorded it (hurray for DVR!!), because I have a slight crush on Meryl Streep.

It's not quite over just yet, but so far it's keeping me in great spirits while I sit on the floor with my exacto knife, glue and sparkly foam paper!!!

yah, I'm also completely in love with sparkly foam by the way... AWESOME stuff!

Last month I feel like all I did was bake and take care everyone, as we all seemed to get sick. I have no complaints, I love to bake and taking care of everyone... well that's all part of mothering isn't it? But I did miss the extra time to craft, so tonight felt wonderful!!

My mind's a buzz with all kinds of ideas, I can't wait to share them once they're completed!!

Musical Monday: Michael Buble - Hollywood

I love this one!

I'm a fan of Michael B anyways, but this video gave me a good chuckle.

I hope it does the same for you!

Another Belated Christmas Post

I've shared some moments from our Christmas day already, and some of the gifts that my boys received, but I felt like continuing on and sharing some of the things I received that excited me!

I almost always ask for only books for Christmas, this year I didn't ask for many, but I did get some that I'm super excited about, even some I didn't specifically ask for!

See that one tucked in the back? 365 Preschool Crafts and Activities? That was from my mother in law and I am ecstatic about it! I wish I could find it on any kind of online shopping site so I could refer those mothers out there to it, but I can't! So I promise to randomly share some of the great ideas in the book through out the year!!

My parents also go me a self healing cutting mat along with a rotary tool that I can't wait to break in. I have big plans for it and I really think it's going to make my life so much easier.

And the last thing I'm going to share is probably my most favourite gift this year.

I'm excited about it... I'm very excited about it!

Yep, it's a little red note book! My hubby got it for my stocking and I think we were both surprised by just how much I love it, but I really, really do!

Perhaps the saying "Simple Minds, Simple Pleasures" is true?

What was your favourite gift this season?

Our Christmas

I feel as though I'm late getting this post out, but simply can't not post about our Christmas day!

I was a little disappointed with myself this year and the lack of pictures taken over the holidays.

We didn't take many during Christmas day, but we did get some cute shots showing the boys and their excitement.

Eli's "cheese!" face, showing off his new pots (they came in a girly box), so he will hopefully stop denting mine!!

Hurray for ripping wrapping paper!

Does it really matter what's inside? I forgot how much fun it was to demolish wrapping paper until I watched the boys move from package to package just to unwrap them, not even looking to see what was inside!

Not quite sure who had more fun with the Bounce Back Racer, but each of the boys continue to need to take turns!

Eli showed more interest in the camera over Christmas then he ever has,

I'm hoping his interest will continue so I'll be able to get some nice pictures of him from here on! He really is such a cutie, I just can't get him to hold still long enough to snap a shot of anything but the back of his head!

Despite the bug we've all been fighting, the holiday has been wonderful to us, and left us all exhausted!