Green Thumb

Tulips are my favorite flower.  Every Spring, I have hunted around town for a tulips to add to our front porch planters.  And every Spring, I get frustrated because I can never find what I am after: just a simple cluster of tulips!

Well, way back in the Fall, I saw an idea on Pinterest to plant my own tulip bulbs then, put them in shed  for the 6 months or so, and wait for Spring!  So I went out and bought some pots and bulbs, planted them, and waited.  I typically have a pretty black thumb, so I didn't really have huge hopes for this project.  Especially because part of the instructions said to water them occasionally over the fall/winter, and I completely forgot to do that (luckily, at least in this case, our shed does leak a little, so they did get a bit of water). 

But, lo and behold, my heart is aflutter because look what we have now!

Amazing...at least to me! This is probably the first, and possibly the last, time I managed to produce positive results in the gardening department, so I figure I should really savor it!

Spring Bucket List

Holy hell!  I think Spring may have finally arrived!  It is positively gorgeous outside (finally!, so I figured now was a good time to share our spring to-do list.
In case you're not familiar with our little tradition around here, I started doing these seasonally with the boys once I became a SAHM.  We use them as motivation for those days we just can't figure out what to do, but don't necessarily stress out too much about conquering every last thing.  Because this is our third list, we have some old favorites on here and then some new things we hope to try out too.

DIY Cherry Blossom Branches

Yesterday I showed you my spring mantle complete with its lovely cherry blossom branches.

Well, crafting them was totally easy peasy, so I figured I'd share the details with you.  

To make them, you'll need:

• pink tissue paper (about 5 sheets)
• scissors
• hot glue gun
• branches

To start, just stack your tissue paper and then cut out flower shapes.  I didn't use any kind of guide but just made a rough "flower."  You can tell by looking at these just how rough they were!  Luckily, it doesn't end up mattering! 

Once the shapes are all cut out, just gather each one in the center, twist it and gather it.  Again, no science to this...just twist, gather, and scrunch.  That's it!  

Take a dot of hot glue and smack them on the branches.

I told you these were easy!  And such a perfect spring decoration, right?  

Spring...Please?!?

I think all of us...or most of us anyways...will agree that this winter has been brutal!  Unbearably cold temperatures, multiple snow storms, and unrelenting ick!  And just when you think it may finally be over, the cold and the wet are back.  I, for one, am 1000% over it and waiting oh so anxiously for spring.
The good news?  After this weekend's latest plummet, temperatures for the foreseeable future are finally scheduled to be seasonable and even warm!!!  Holy crap, right?!?  I'm really, really hoping this is it.
To celebrate, I did what anyone would do...I put out our spring mantle!

First and foremost, do you notice how much better my pictures are now that I have my fancy-schmancy new camera?  I'm still definitely an amateur, but I'm loving it and am determined to figure it out completely.  

And secondly, how bout that mantle?  To me, spring is bright and happy, so I wanted to incorporate some color in our mantle.  My favorite part might just be that framed fabric that I had found last year.  The colors are not only perfect for spring, but perfect for our living room!

Like that fabric, all the other elements are from mantles past (or doors past as is the case with the wreath).  The only addition really is the "cherry blossom branches."  In case you haven't guessed, it's in quotes because they're actually just tissue paper cherry blossoms, but I'm pretty impressed with how they came out!

So weather-maker out there...I hope you get my message! My mantle is officially spring-ready, so bring on spring!

Stuck Inside? Round ?

Did you hear we were snowed in last week?  If you didn't, I'm shocked you didn't catch my bitching and complaining wherever you are!  Let's just say I'm not a stay in kind of girl!  On a typical day, we are out of here around 8:30 and not home until right before nap time.  But after surviving a couple of days being stuck, I am happy to report we made it through (and even happily for the most part!).
Indoor Ice Skating (just waxed paper wrapped around their feet)...slipping and sliding all over the place and having a blast doing it!

Puffy painting: it's just equal parts flour and salt, combined with just enough water to make it the consistency of pancake batter!  The kids had a blast painting with it (we used spoons, but brushes or even a soap bottle would work), but really loved that we could pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they immediately dried and got puffy.  On a side note, for the next few days Levi kept wanting to put all of his art work in the microwave...

Crystal Snowflakes: Just make basic snowflakes out of pipe cleaners, tie them to a pencil/skewer and hang them into a mason jar (or other cleaned out glass jar).  Dissolve 3 tbsp. Borax into 1 cup hot water, add a few drops of food coloring (if you want) and pour the mixture into the mason jar.  Let the snowflakes sit overnight and you will find crystals growing.  Pretty cool!  

Paper Snowflakes: An oldie, but a goodie...at least to my boys.  Colton was so proud he could use the scissors, and even though, I cut Levi's for him, he was pretty fascinated to open it up!

Build a fort: One of the boys new favorite activities!  I guess what could be better than hiding out under some blankets?!?

A Week in VB's Wacky Weather

I've lived here basically my entire life (minus the four years I was away for college), so you would think by now I would be used to the roller coaster that is Virginia Beach's weather.  But last week may have just about taken the cake.
On Monday, it was about 65 out.  The boys were out of school for MLK Jr. day, so my sister (who was also off) and I decided to take them down to the MacArthur ice skating rink.  It was actually the last day the outdoor rink was going to be open, and the weather could not have been more perfect for it...at least according to my standards!  Plus, the boys had a blast!  True, they stuck to the itty bitty toddler rink and didn't let go of us and/or the rails the whole time, BUT they loved it!

Colton even asked to go back the next day.  Luckily it was closed because the temperatures had already begun their plummet.  By Tuesday evening (just 24 hours after it was 65 if you're keeping track), it was in the 30's here!  And the temps continued to fall  And then it started to snow!  Snow in Virginia Beach is a once-a-year at best kind of thing, so it was actually pretty exciting...enough for me to even kind of ignore the fact that it was in the teens when we woke up Wednesday morning (50 degrees colder than just 48 hours prior...again, in case you're keeping track).  

The boys saw a few flakes falling before they went to bed, but the bulk of the white stuff fell while they were asleep.  Needless to say, they were super pumped when they woke up and saw the 3.5 inches or so that were on the ground.  To preface this video, Colton had already looked out his window to see the snow, so that explains a little as to his questionable enthusiasm!

As I mentioned, it was freaking freezing, so I wasn't in a real hurry to get out there and play.  To keep them at bay for a bit, I made them some snowman pancakes.

Honestly, I would have been perfectly happy staying in all day, but the boys were so excited to get out and play in it.  So I put on my good mom pants and headed out with them.  My mom and sister braved the roads to come over and join us.

Being the true Virginia Beach boys that they are, they lasted about five minutes out there.  In fairness, it was bitterly cold...and we really do not have the proper attire for it if you can't tell from the above pics.  We went inside to warm up with some hot chocolate (Colton's favorite part of the day!).

But when their good buddy, Grayson, came out across the street, they decided to bundle up and give it one more go...yes, with sand buckets because that's how beach kids do snow!

But that only lasted about 5 minutes as well (thankfully!)!  Have no fear, though...we found other ways to take advantage of the snow without actually having to brave elements!  

We painted the snow by spraying food coloring on it.

And we made snow ice cream.

 

It was so bitter cold that we really didn't make it out to play in the snow much more.  Josh did take the boys out for a bit on Saturday once the temps had warmed up a tiny bit, but that was about it!  

And now that we've checked snow off our winter bucket list, I am quite happy to see it finally melting away.  Seriously, being stuck inside with these guys for just one day was enough to make me crazy...so much so that we braved the roads the next day (and yes, they were pretty bad...our city just isn't equipped for this stuff like our Northern neighbors!) to meet some friends.  And now, there are some reports that we could get 12 inches or more later this week!?!?  I may honestly lose it if that happens, so keep your fingers crossed for us...

Holy Hell It's Cold Outside

There's no nice way to phrase it.  It's freaking freezing out there, colder than I can ever remember it being in Virginia Beach...and that's not just due to some memory lapse on my part; the weather folks have repeatedly reported that it was colder here this week than any other time in my lifetime!!!  Um, yeah, that's cold.
And we've already established that I hate, loathe, detest (pick a synonym) the cold.
So what's a girl to do when it's bitterly cold outside?  Well, craft of course.  And decorate.  And what could be more appropriate than to decorate for winter.
So first I gave our mantle its little seasonal transformation.  I had everything on hand and have used them all in past winter mantles.  To me, winter is minimal.  And I feel like the mantle kind of goes along with that.  Not a whole lot of flare, but a few little touches.

I did put a bit more effort into a wreath, though...mainly because when I pulled out our old one it was a bit beaten up.  To create a new one, I just made a whole bunch of white yarn poms and then used pins to secure them into a wreath shape I happened to have on hand.

It was a pretty basic process, but all told I needed about 50 poms to get the full wreath that I wanted (I didn't bother with the back side since it would just be laying against the door anyway).  Considering it was too cold to do just about anything else, though, I didn't mind!  And in the end, I was really happy with the result!

I told you I think of winter as minimal, so speaking of minimal that's about as far as my winter decorating got!  I really didn't have any other inspiration, so other areas of the abode that may sometimes get some seasonal touches (ie: the kitchen, the dining room, our entry console) just went untouched.  Oh well.
Maybe I'll feel more inspired when the temperatures climb back to the 60s this weekend...welcome to winter in Virginia Beach!