All Crafty and Pinteresty

 Yesterday while at work I got a request from my brother, "You should have Audrey make us a star/angel for our Xmas tree. I know you guys are all crafty n pintresty." Okay we could do this! Since is almost December  and I knew that they already had their tree up I figured we should get going on this. Then I got home from work, made dinner, picked up the house a little, Chris was already falling asleep on the couch and I was exhausted to say the least. Could we do it tomorrow? No I work late tomorrow...so tonight it was. I had no plans of doing crafts tonight. Audrey was excited but I was not prepared or organized. Normally when I sit her down for a craft I have a plan, a clean work area, and newspaper laid if paint is involved. Obviously I had no plan, we were winging it (no pun intended) but it was a Christmas craft so we could figure it out. The digging began through the craft shelves and containers to include anything that we may need for a tree angel (which is what we decided to do). As I dump an arm load of supplies on the island where we work on crafts now I quickly realized that there is crap all over the place. Some of my school stuff, paper work, laptops, cups, just stuff that had accumulated from the day. I am tired by this point. So with one big arm motion I move everything over. Yes, we were getting this angel done but it was not going to be pretty. 

So now we have a work area... sorta. I grab a piece of card stock. That will suffice for newspaper. Dab a little blue paint on a napkin. Yes, we are out of paper plates which I normally use for painting but she's happy and this will work. She may be painting in her school clothes which is a big no no because normally we just use regular acrylic paint. But tonight I was not following any rules I was to tired for rules. She began by painting a styrophome cone blue for the body. Okay, in the meantime I will start cutting out some felt for the face and cutting pipe cleaners for the hair and halo. Now the wings... how in the world were we going to come up with wings from the supplies we had (which need some stocking by all means) I believe this will be under the tree from the big guy come Christmas. Anyways, Audrey was already on it! She took popsicle sticks and wrapped them with pipe cleaners... whatever works kid, this is your craft. And after burning both of our hands with the hot glue gun while trying to affix its face and wings our angel was done. 

And she will be the most beautiful tree angel ever.

 I was not pulling out my camera for this one. To much work to get it out, I believe the memory card was in my computer, the counter/house was a... well I already told you about the mess. So there are no fancy pictures for this one. Just a nice craft that ended in a quick tantrum because by now Audrey is tired to and she's full of paint, its getting late and she hasn't had a bath. Well, all in all it was a good night! Nothing a few cartoons won't fix and she's happy while I try and pick up a little bit of the mess.

So thanks for the great craft idea Ann, Andrew and Mom! I'm thinking this lovely art project by a 4 year old will not make it through until next year so if you will let us make you one ever year for your Christmas tree we would love that! 

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Anyone who knows me knows my obsession with Christmas. It spans far beyond most. I love everything about Christmas but one of my favorite things are traditions and continuing traditions with Audrey. Since Audrey was 1 we would spend an afternoon at this cute little Christmas tree farm in Bowling Green cutting down our Christmas tree for that year. 

Here are the years past.. .just so I can reminisce :) 

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2010

I remember this year being ungodly cold. It wasn't much of an afternoon more of "pick one so we can get back in the car" lol Either it is always fun!

December 2011

This holiday season had a little hiccup that most know about. Chris spent September through December 23rd of 2011 away training for his deployment. Every year we go the day after Thanksgiving to get our tree but we couldn't go without him. So we waited until December 23rd to cut down our tree. The military can interfere with a lot but I refuse to let it interfere with our tradition especially when it comes to Christmas! So we waited until he came home on leave and he cut our tree down like every year in the past! 

And that takes us back to 2012 and cutting our tree down on the day after Thanksgiving! A tradition I hope to continue as long as the cute little tree farm is there!

I photoshopped this one a little bit for my Facebook pic... don't mind that :)

Hoping to get these framed or on a canvas soon!

What a great afternoon getting our tree. I think this is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. Making the drive to BG listening to Christmas music, walking up and down rows of Christmas tree, finding the perfect tree and spending the evening decorating the tree in the warm house. I love it all! And as Audrey starts to get older I think it is something she looks forward to as well. 

Weekend up North and the Nature Mobile

Last weekend before Thanksgiving we took a mini road trip up to my dads. We spend the weekend hunting, relaxing and enjoying the lovely fall weather. Audrey only lasts so long tromping through the woods so a lot of the time the boys left us behind. That was okay with us we stayed close to the house and went on a nature walk to gather materials for a craft.

So quiet and peaceful

We could have stayed out here for hours

A nice collection of leaves, sticks, grass, and whatever else would fit into our bucket

Once we got back to Ohio we added a few other things we had laying around. Fake pine cones because we didn't make it far enough back into the woods to find any, bells, and some yarn for our mobile.

And the finished product... Audrey practiced tying and we had a Nature Mobile with a collection of goodies!

The weekend up North was just what we needed. A little break for work, school and the city. Traded in for hunting, fires, country livin' and relaxation. I'll take that any day over the hustle and bustle of life here in Ohio. And it was the first weekend Chris had been up to my dads since returning from deployment I know he had fun and we were so happy to have him home with us :)

2 months later

Well Chris has been home from deployment for officially 2 months! What?! Seems like he has been home forever. During the deployment 2 months seemed to just drag on but now it seems like we have done so much in 2 months. And it's almost the holidays and things could not be better here. Like I have said before of course we have our arguments it's not always perfect but no marriage is. And overall things are great! The last 2 months we have went on vacations, concerts, just making up for the last year and it has been wonderful. After a nice little break from work I had to go back and shortly after Chris' leave was over he to went back to work. So add in school for me, gymnastics and swim class for Audrey on top of prepping for the holidays and life is, well... crazy. But I would have it no other way. Although sometime I feel like I am going to have a nervous breakdown it is nothing compared to while Chris was gone. Now he can help me with Audrey's schedule, housework and helping with the dog. And he really does! The adjustments have come easily and I think life is better now than pre-deployment. I think this deployment changed both of us.. but in a good way. Neither of us are the people we were before deployment but I think this change is a good thing. Things couldn't be better! And now, 2 months later I don't think we are still in that "honeymoon stage" as they call it after deployment. I think life is falling into place beautifully after deployment.

Okay, enough of what I think. The holidays are coming up... my absolute favorite time of the year and with Chris home this year I nearly tear up everything I think about it! This weekend we are headed North to my dads for a weekend of hunting, fishing, and trapping in the cold, fall weather of Michigan.We are so excited! This is Chris' first trip up to my dads since coming home from deployment and he has been talking about this weekend for weeks. I am glad we were able to fit this in among our busy schedule. 

And before we know Thanksgiving is next week. We will be hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year and I am nervous and excited all at the same time. My mom is still cooking the turkey because that's what she does. But maybe this year I will be assisting her with it so I can begin to learn the process of this wonderful art she has perfected. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because our family gets together, eats, drink, plays board games and just relax... something we don't get to do much.

The day after thanksgiving we go cut our Christmas tree down and the enjoy the day together, just the 3 of us. And the Christmas season is in full force! So with the madness and craziness of our schedule we will continue on this journey after deployment. Sometimes it seems as if he was never even gone.. I like it that way :)

Water Color Turkeys

Audrey and I made these one night last week and of course I'm just getting them posted. School is consuming my life... rightfully so, it is my last semester before I graduate and it is the last 4 weeks. But it is almost over and I will have my sanity back and a little "free" time. With all the madness we do still find time to squeeze these little projects in I just don't always get them posted as I would like. So here we go... watercolor turkeys!

Since my lovely hubby got me a Keurig for Mother's Day last year I have a whole stack of coffee filters for my old machine that I no longer need. Great, we will use them for crafts! Just color with markers for this one!

Any design or colors you want

Then comes the fun part which I have no pictures of. Take the coffee filter and fold it in half and then half again and keep folding until it looks like a piece of pie. Run just the tip under water... hence, the reason I have no pictures. Because I couldn't wrangle Audrey in the sink with this and snap pictures so you'll have to take my word for it. Anyways once you get the tip wet move the water across the entire surface getting as much water out as possible. Then set out to dry. Note, in the left of the picture.

While your filter is drying make your turkey body! You can do this however you want using whatever you supplies you have to make it look like a turkey.

And once the filter is dry just glue it to the body! Easy Peasy Thanksgiving Turkeys! Although our Thanksgiving crafts have been fun we are about to head to Christmas crafts because with Thanksgiving next week and my love for Christmas it is time! Have a great weekend everyone!

A rainy Monday scarecrow kinda day!

We had big intentions this morning. The last few weeks have been so busy and today wasn't going to be any different. Until I got a phone call that the heating and AC guys would be here this morning to fix our furnace right at the same time Audrey was to be at gymnastics. Crap. "Okay, I will be here." I mean winter is knocking at our door even after that beautiful weekend and by today it had to be fixed (thank God it went out during an exceptionally warm November weekend) Anyways there went gymnastics and headed out the door early for the day. So instead we made scarecrow faces for Thanksgiving! 

Paper plate faces...

Straw...

Hat...

I made one this morning also while the wonderful gentlemen were in the basement and tromping back and forth through the rain. That would be miserable to have to work outside... I don't think we give those people enough credit! 

Audrey named hers Flora so I names mine Nora and she says they are friends!

I'll tell ya you can make a morning craft out of anything. Supplies for this one: paper plate, construction paper, and a glue stick! 

Now for the rest of the day I had full intentions of taking Audrey to school and heading to the library for research all day. But since yesterday was Veterans Day and I do believe the library is closed (oh man!) Can you sense the sarcasm there?! I think Audrey and I will make some hot chocolate and tackle her play room and organize her toys. With Santa coming here in a little over a month she needs to get rid of stuff she doesn't play with anymore. Plus, we are donating books to her school and I have a feeling we will be making a few trips to the Salvation Army to donate all the stuff she no longer plays with. So what started as a busy Monday has turned into a day in of sorting and organizing and probably more crafts later! Happy Monday all!

Sleepover with Carter

With ours family's very busy schedule we don't get to see Carter as much as we would like. So when my sister was in need of an overnight baby sitter the other night Audrey and I jumped right on it and offered. Carter is our 6 month old nephew and oh boy does he take care of the baby fever at the Miller household! Diapers, bottles, crying, pacifiers, up through the night and he is actually a good baby and a very happy baby!!! But babies are babies and require a lot of work and a lot of attention. Seems like so long a go when I did this. Audrey did not sleep through the night until after she turned 2... yeah, it was miserable. I was like a walking zombie for a few years but now life is so easy. She's sleeps in, pretty much self sufficient and easy. I enjoy my sleep now, the fact that through the whining and temper tantrums I really do have some sanity. I enjoy my cup of coffee in the mornings alone while she still sleeps and the fact that I can shower and brush my teeth without a crying baby. We play and do preschool things and it is much "nicer" in a different way than the newborn babies. (I'm convinced I need to be a preschool teacher... I love this age) That is the only way to put it for us... after the "baby stage" life is easy with kids! So anyways it made me rethink our baby planning... or lack there of. Either way we definitely had a blast with a little baby in the house for the night but boy was I tired come the next morning. 

Audrey sure had a blast with him!

And it's never to young to start the craftin'. Carter's first finger painting!

I did that tape before he came over. Planning is key when you know you are going to have a 6 month old baby at your house.

Audrey had to help. I understand that he is very little to be painting but with the help of Audrey they had fun and made a huge mess. That was the point :)

With this madness going on obviously the pictures did not turn out well. Paint was non toxic and it was kids finger paint but I didn't want him to rub his eyes and put it in his mouth so Chris was in charge of snapping a few pics.

Now he's got that hang of it

And the finished painted project with the help of Audrey!

Carter's first finger paint! I know my sister enjoyed this as much as we did making it for her! 

And even the next morning my little helper was being a great cousin. One day when she has a little brother or sister she will be a great big sister. Until then, it is always fun to practice with baby Carter Bug!