Easter with My Boys

Gettin' creative on Saturday
"Look Mommy! Pretty!!"
Evan gave up on eggs, and started drawing jelly fish...
After we were finished with the eggs, I wanted to plant the seeds for my garden, and Evan was a HUGE help! He counted out the seeds and dropped them into the the soil for me.
Marcus got off work in time for us to head to the park...
Hmmm... how are you going to get up there, little man?!!?
Can't believe how big he's getting!
Loving the park!!
This boy would ride his bike 24 hours a day if I'd let him!
Easter lunch at Cracker Barrel

A couple of goofballs... they must be related!

Family Fun

It may have been Palm Sunday, but up in Elkhart it was all about Easter and and a little birthday on the side...

The Halls and friends congregated at my Aunt Pat's house a week ago. First up was fantastic food (as usual) and then a birthday celebration for my Grandma Hall.

Is this a cool cake, or what?
Happy Birthday, Grandma!!
After that, the great-grandkids played and had an egg hunt! My aunts always do a good job with the hunt... the eggs are filled with things like yogurt-covered raisins and dried fruit. It's mom-approved! Enjoy the pictures!

Freezer Paper Stencil Tutorial

You can find instructions on how to do freezer paper stenciling all over the Internet... and... here's another one! I cannot tell you how much FUN this is!! I'm hooked. I'm still staying pretty simple because I don't want to ruin any shirts, but I have BIG plans! If you're interested in trying it (and you should be...), here's what you do:


1. Create a design. I use Photoshop to come up with the shirt designs, but you can really use anything that you print off the computer. An Internet image search for coloring pages is a GREAT way to find a good patterns and pictures for the shirts.

2. With the plastic side of the freezer paper down, trace the design. With an exacto knife, carefully cut out your stencil. Make sure you keep in mind that the parts you cut out will be painted, and you are creating a negative.


3. Once the stencil has been cut out, position it onto the shirt (again, plastic side down, against the material), and iron the paper until there is a tight seal between the material and paper. If you have smaller pieces of freezer paper you need to add (like the spaceship windows in this example), position and iron those pieces after the main stencil is secured.

Make sure you use matte fabric paint like the brand above
(NOT "puffy" paint)
Save some money by buying only a few colors and mix!
4. Once you have your paint mixed, put a piece of cardboard on the inside of the shirt so that the paint doesn't soak through. Use a medium to large brush to paint the shirt evenly. This may take more than one layer of paint, so let the paint dry between each layer. For a more "vintage" look, you are going to want fewer layers. For bolder/sharper colors and lines, add more layers.


5. Let the paint dry for about an hour, or... if you are all about instant gratification like me, and you can't wait to start pulling off the paper, you can greatly speed up the process by using your trusty hair dryer!

6. Once the paint is dry, carefully peel the freezer paper off the shirt.


7. Iron the painted areas for about 20 seconds to make sure the paint is permanently set.


8. It's done! Enjoy your crafty-work!! It's just that easy!!

Appliques & Freezer Paper... Oh, My!

I have been bitten by the crafty bug again! After perusing a bunch of craft blogs the past couple days, I just really wanted to try to do something for my boys!

The shirts, I got from Once Upon a Child, and I decided to try appliqueing a shirt and freezer paper stenciling. Liked appliqueing... LOVED the stenciling!!


Above is the pattern I made for Evan's robot shirt. Below is the almost finished product. You might notice the "hats" on the robot are different... I gave up on the antennae, and now just have to finish stitching the new hat, and it's done!


For Zachary's shirt, I tried freezer paper stenciling. First, I created a stencil on Photoshop...


The design gets transferred to freezer paper, cut out with an exacto knife and then ironed it to the shirt.


Paint, dry aaaand... it's DONE!!! It was SO. MUCH. FUN!! Cannot wait to make some more designs!!!

Jumping on the Dave Ramsey Bandwagon

On Sunday, the Rhines and I just completed Dave Ramsey's 13-week Financial Peace University course at my church. Marcus couldn't join me because he was working his second job... an excuse I'm sure Dave Ramsey would approve.

I have to admit, before I first started I was skeptical. Here was this mega-rich, scissor-wielding, snake-oil salesman who was going to give me the magical cure to the financial mess student loans have made in our lives. (I was just wondering how many "easy payments" it would take before I got to the final incantation to solve my money woes...)

From the first class, however, I was impressed. He started off by saying that it would NOT be easy... it is NOT a quick fix... and that I probably won't get it all right the first, second or third time I tried. ...Aaaaand... he was right!

After month one, I thought I was a rock star! I had scrounged up $1,000 for Step #1, (our beginning emergency fund), got rid of our credit cards AND stuck to the budget that I had outlined! Second month, well, not so much. We are now in the third month, and so far, so good... and now we're hacking away at the debt!

It's amazing what a plan and a little motivation can do! There is no secret to his program; I've always known I need to do a budget and pay down the loans, but it has always seemed like an insurmountable feat to me. And while I've never been a huge spender (I'm driving the ghetto van and we still have hand-me-down furniture, etc.), I'd buy a bunch of little things without thinking of the overall impact. That is beginning to change.

It's been completely smothering being under the weight of so much debt, and with Marcus working so much, it makes it all the more difficult to handle sometimes. But the program has given me a point to look toward with purpose (a "laser focus" as we say around my office), and the encouragement that it IS possible... with hard work.

I'll probably be sharing successes on my blog as a motivational tool for myself, so stay tuned... hopefully you won't have to wait too long!

Spring Fest 2011

How about that weather this morning, central Indiana?!!? Our windows shook with the thunder, lights flickered, the boys huddled in my lap and the dog worked herself up into such a tizzy that she made herself yack on my carpet... again.

I was SURE that we would have to scrub our plans to go to the Purdue Spring Fest today. But the boys remained optimistic, and by noon the storm had passed, the clouds were dissipating, and I decided to get us out of the house and meet Marcus at Purdue after his shift ended at about 1:00 pm.

We started off at my office to see the Boilermaker Special in the lobby. I don't even DARE take the boys on campus without stopping to see the train. I would never hear the end of it!!

"ALL ABOARD!!"
The boys took turns being the engineer and the passenger. Here, Evan is waiting patiently to get to their destination (I believe they said the were going to Mickey's clubhouse), so that he could "drive" the train on the return trip...
After the visit to my office, we moved on to the main event on campus...

This is a pretty cool piece of art by Patrick Dougherty in front of the Visual and Performing Arts Building. Several students worked with him to produce the sculpture.
I love this shot of Evan!
Side-note: I did put that stick back where it belonged in the sculpture once I noticed he had a hold of it!!
My brave explorers
The Tractor Trudge: The more they pedaled the more resistance was put on the tractor by the contraption it was pulling... Zachary made it 35 feet...
...and Evan made it 30 feet (with some help)
It was about 50 degrees when I left home, so the boys had long shirts on, but the chill did not last long! As soon as the sun came out, it jumped to the mid-70's! BEAUTIFUL!! It also meant the boys were hot and uncomfortable. Luckily, Marcus saved the day and brought the boys a couple of t-shirts. It was a good thing too, because our next stop was the "Boiler Barn" with farm animals. It was HOT in there!!

While we were there, I paid a buck because Zachary wanted to milk a cow. However, once he was next to the cow (and she WAS a big'un!) he couldn't do it. So, I did!! I paid for the privilege, after all! Kinda cool, but my aim is terrible, and we'll just leave it at that!!

So cute...
and frankly, the cleanest pigs I've ever seen in my life!
Evan with a week-old calf. He kept crawling around, looking right into the calf's face and saying, "It's ok baby cow, you go to sleep now!" Melted my heart...
Concentrating hard on the little chick
Zachary's turn! Such confidence!
Awwww... those are my boys!!
After the barn, we headed to the "Bug Bowl" portion of Spring Fest. Zachary does not like insects at ALL unless they are under glass, so he was fine with the displays, and actually enjoyed them quite a bit!

The insect petting zoo was a much different story. He stayed back for the most part and did not want to touch a thing in that room!

Evan the Fearless, however, went up to each of the different bugs' handlers and point blank asked to hold each and every one of those little critters!! He held a tobacco worm, a cockroach, a millipede, and a beetle. He also petted a butterfly and a lobster. He was completely enthralled by them! He wasn't skittish, and he didn't just let them sit there either... he touched them, examined them, and well, squeezed them, but we made sure it was a gentle squeeze!!

"Look, Mommy! These bugs are cool!"
Giving a tobacco worm a little squeeze and pat on the head...
The millipede making it's way from my hand to Evan's.
Mmmmm... Lobster...
I learned something new today as well! I had no idea that some lobsters can live to be over a hundred years old if they don't end up as someone's anniversary dinner!!
After our bug encounter, we walked around a bit and got the boys some child-sized cotton candy, which is kind of a tradition for us at Spring Fest. We ended our Purdue trip over at the airport to do a little plane spotting with Grandpa DeArmond.




Hope my readers have had a good weekend thus far, and if the weather was as gorgeous as it was here, that you were able to enjoy it! Lots and lots of activities coming up in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

"MMmmmmm... Sugar...
Have a wonderful weekend!