A Magnetic Poetry & A Snow Day

I woke up to this:

I wanted so badly to stay home and play in the snow with my little girl. After all, this is the first big snowfall we have had in her lifetime (thus far!) However, I had to go to work. I was so anxious to get home and get bundled up to go PLAY, but my little girl was so interested in the Magnetic Poetry set.

When the words starting forming sentences about the world that awaited us outside, we had to go!

 We made our very first snowman together!

Bundle had to go over and say "Hi"

I decorated our snowman (that we named Matey) to look like a pirate, after a suggestion from one of my coworkers:

We were only able to play outside for a short bit and I was insanely jealous of all those who had a snow day (a day off!) but we enjoyed the snow that Mother Nature left us at least for a little bit:)

~Angela

Found! And then forgotten

I have been on a hunt for pinecones for a project and refuse to buy them even though they are available at craft stores. The discovery of finding them in nature and the memory is part of the fun. I was quite excited that I found some this weekend when we were spending time with my mom and brother along Lake Superior!  I found them because my husband and brother started throwing them at me and trying to take pictures of my reaction.

 After I was done being pelted by pinecones, I picked up a few more:

I had a little pile of pinecones that I was setting aside to bring home after we were done playing by the lake. I had to see if there were any heart shaped rocks along the shore- I did not find any this trip. We left and I forgot my pinecones!! The project will wait...but the memories of the day still remain!

Why? Because I wanted to.

Always a new adventure...

Bundle and her Yaya throwing rocks on the ice and in the open water

I love the lake in the winter!

My husband and brother, busy being awesome.

~Angela

Fabulous Fridays Off

I have two jobs and I love them both. One pays me in the form of money; the other provides an even bigger reward in the form of hugs, kisses, and a heart full of love. Monday through Thursday I work as an Administrative Assistant. Friday through Sunday I am a full time Mom. (I am a mom the other days too, of course-but I spend more time at work than at home those days). As much as I enjoy my job that provides a paycheck, I live for my Fridays off to spend with my little girl. Somedays we have big adventures and others we have playdates. Sometimes we run errands together and have ordinary days and others we stay inside and create our own adventures indoors with crafts or reading corners. We skype with my cousin and catch up with family and friends via phone. It does not matter what we do, but the Fridays seems to fly by at record speed as they are filled with laughter, hugs, singing, dancing and learning.

These days often start out with a snuggle in Bundle's room, rocking in her chair together and singing. Can you think of a better way to start out the day?!  I wish I made time for this the rest of the week.

Often we stay in our pajamas a little longer than usual...

We have dance parties

We color and do art

We play in the little house.

We have tea (this is my Fisher Price dishes set from when I was a little girl!) I love that we are reusing it and she loves it as much as I do!

And when Daddy comes home, there is usually cuddling and maybe even a nap in store.

I realize how precious these Fridays are. I try to plan activities that are fun and will be sharing some of those in the coming weeks, but often, the most fun are the simple, unplanned days...

~Angela

Bloogie Bestie: Guest Post with Kassi of Truly Lovely

Hello hello there lovely The Simple Things readers!!

My name is Kassi and I blog over at Truly Lovely!

I am thrilled to be blog swapping with the lovely Angela today! 

You can find her sharing some loveliness over at my place when you're finished here, FYI! ;)

Truly Lovely is an 'all things lovely' blog created by me and my sister, Kayli! 

You can click that pic above to learn more about us and our blog!




In the meantime... I'd love to share a fun gift idea with you all today! 




An Etched Glass Drink Set

Etching glass REALLY isn't that hard! It just takes a little bit of time and patience...

As well as the RIGHT etching cream!




First off, you'll need the glass you plan to etch... 

For this gift I chose a glass wine pitcher and four glasses. You can etch just about any type of glass though... For example you can click this link to see the candle holders I etched awhile back... 

You'll also need etching cream. I have tried a few different kinds, but the EtchAll etching cream has worked the best for me so far. 

Please keep your hands safe by wearing protective gloves and keep your table top safe by laying down at least a layer of newspaper. 

You'll also need the shape or words you plan to etch on the glass. I use sticky backed vinyl cut with my Silhouette SD for my stencils. This time around I cut out my gift receivers name for the pitcher, and 'her' glass, and some pretty swirly shapes that were included with my Silhouette software. 

Glass etching is really as easy as sticking the stencils to the glass, smoothing it down... Then (while wearing gloves) use a small sponge (I used a makeup sponge) to apply the etching creme inside the area you'd like to be etched... And wait. 

(The etching cream does come with directions for how long to wait, etc.)




Finally, you'll peal the stencil off, rinse in cold water, and viola! 

You have pretty, personalized, etched glass!

Just so you know... Sort of a disclaimer... 

Etched glass is CRAZY hard to photograph! haha. 

You can click the picture to enlarge it and really get a good look if you'd like. :)

My thanks to the lovely Angela for blog swapping with me today! 

Again when you're finished here I'm sure she'd love a visit (and a comment) on her post over at my blog. 

Happy etching lovelies!! 

Weekend Reading

Reading is something our whole family enjoys and with less opportunities to play in the snow this year, we have spent more time indoors. Last weekend was a rare weekend that we did not have plans so we took advantage of a simple day indoors reading as a family. 

My husband's book of choice: Tour de Lance by Bill Strickland

 My daughter's book of choice Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

My book of choice: Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

(I highly recommend this book. I have since finished it and I loved the suspense and never knowing what was coming next).

~Angela

Because Every Girl Needs a Pair of Red Shoes

Even if all she wants to do is to run through the mud with them!

~Angela

A Mysterious Smell and a Treasure Hunt

I knew something was up when I smelled something mysterious coming from the basement and my husband says to me "Can you jsut not go down there for a few days?" No crafting, no playing with Bundle in the family room and no organizing the basement....Uh, I guess so.

Well, the mysterious smell and quarantining to the upstairs was worth it! He was working on my Valentine's Gift!! I love thoughtful and homemade gifts; I think I have made that clear:)  My husband fortunately has an appreciation for the same homemade, thoughtful gifts I do. This means he appreciates my efforts and he also likes to come up with his own thoughtful ideas.

For Valentine's Day, he created a treasure hunt for me. In anticipation of our upcoming Pirate Murder Mystery (stay tuned for that), I was given a treasure chest and told to look for treasures!

Of course I had no idea what I was looking for and I am TERRIBLE at scavenger hunts. I am always the last one to find all my Easter eggs. Yes, still. As in, last year the little kids found more than me. Seriously. Once I realized what I was looking for, that helped.

(Let's pretend I am not in my pajamas...)

I found coins that represented "treasures" in my life, with words like "cousins" and "brothers" and "parents" and "grandparents" and "faith" and "friends" and "communication." You get the idea...there were 50 of them so I'll just stop there. Then there were some really valuable coins for a Movie Night, a Weekend Getaway and My husband (willingly) doing a project when I want! (I always have a list of projects for him).

And these little treasures which represent our little family of three:

The rings which represent our wedding bands and our love:

Yay!! All the treasures! A perfect reminder that the best treasures in life have no monetary value!!

 And as for the smell in the basement...it was from the paint he was using, and it is no longer evident!

~Angela

Love Potion #9 (Homemade Valentines Gift Idea)

This a pretty last minute post since Valentine's Day is here, but since my husband follows my blog, I couldn't exactly post ahead of time and ruin the surprise. This is so easy to make that you still have time to make it happen yet today, or use it as an idea for later...

I started with this:

My original intent was buy a 6 pack of his favorite beer, and although my husband would prefer beer, I could not pass up the pink color. It is Valentine's Day after all! 

Remove the labels:

 They peeled of pretty easy, but I did use WD-40 to remove the remaining sticky residue.

 

I printed off labels on the computer:

And put them in a basket for a lovely gift for my Love:

~Angela

Super SIMPLE recipe: Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 30oz. bag of frozen, shredded hash browns

3 14oz. cans of chicken broth

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

3/4 C shredded cheddar cheese

1 pkg. cream cheese ****don’t use fat free.  It WON’T melt!!!

In a crockpot, combine everything EXCEPT for the cream cheese.  Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat.  About 1 hour before serving, add cream cheese shredded cheese and keep heated until thoroughly melted.  Serve with ham, bacon bits, green onions, or whatever else you want as well.

Then, enjoy:)

~Angela

The Gift of Memories and Ordinary Days

A few months ago, I blogged about how grateful I am for my memories.  I was reminded of it again last night when I saw the movie "The Vow" with my husband when we were out for Date Night.

In the movie, the woman is in a car accident and cannot remember anything from the last few years, including her husband.  It was sad (and of course I was crying), but it really made me think that I am so, so glad that I do have my memories. The good memories I love to relive over and over again. The bad ones that I want to forget have even shaped me into who I am. Then there are the in-between memories that are just there, but still an important part of my history. Our memories are a gift that we are given and recalling them brings us back to that time and place.
I can often be quoted as saying  "We are making memories, here people" or "Let's go and make some memories"  and I always have my camera, but often the most memorable of days, the memories that are the most profound in our lives (both good and bad) are those that we didn't plan and couldn't have seen coming. Every day is one to be lived to the fullest. It is important to be present in the moment.
In a book that I loved so much I gifted to my mom and mother-in-law, The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kennison, is much about enjoying each of the ordinary days in our lives as they really are special too.

Don't get me wrong, I love adventures, I love to get my adrenaline pumping, I love vacations, and I love BIG events like birthdays and weddings and parties of all kinds, but I also love spending quiet days at home, going for walks with my husband, running hugs with my little girl and enjoying my favorite song when it happens to be on the radio, even though I have it on my iPod at home. I enjoy the simple things, like a hot shower and a warm bath, a really good book and a soft blanket.  I enjoy ordinary days because it also means that nothing terribly wrong has happened and for that I am always grateful, because we all know our life can change in an instant.
Yesterday was an ordinary day for me: I had the day off so I slept in until my Bundle woke up and we cuddled before breakfast, listened to music and got ready for the day ahead, which included errands such as buying groceries before an evening date with my husband. It wasn't overly excited about being in the cold and running our errands, until my little girl started pointing out all the things that I had been far too busy to notice: "Flag, Mama!!" "Train!"  "Mama, 2 cars!"  "School Bus!" "Stop Sign!" "Another Flag!" Wow, she was right, this was a really great day! All of her favorite things, words we are reading about, we saw just on our way to the grocery store! And once we got to the store, there even more things that I would have missed had my Bundle not pointed them out to me, as I am busily crossing items off my list and comparing prices. "E, Mama!"  "O!"  "Red!" "Triangle!" "Another E!" "Milk, Mama!! Milk!"  Each time she excitedly pointed one of her discoveies out to me, there was a big smile and a little jump in her step. Her excitement was contagious as is the way with little ones. She is learning so much! I found myself looking at groceries in a new way, our drive home was more exciting than it had been in months and our errands, well, for a change, they were FUN!

The day was anything but ordinary and an unexpected memory that still makes me smile:)

~Angela

Waterpark Fun

We spent the weekend at the Metropolis Resort in Eau Claire, WI. I would recommend staying there. The staff is so accommodating and the rooms are decorated very modern, (plus they wash all the bedding including duvet covers which always scores extra points in my book. Most hotels do not!) the Chaos water park and Action City arcade and restaurants are all right there and it is reasonably priced.

At Chaos waterpark (the real deal)

I made the mistake of telling Bundle that we were going to a water park earlier in the week.  She LOVES water and swimming and water slides, but at 21 months, she cannot grasp the concept of time and wanted to put her swimsuit on at every chance she could.  

getting ready for swimming

After we had a “waterpark” at home earlier in the week, we stopped talking about it until we were actually on our way there. To create a water park at home, you get in the shower with toys and turn it on. Then splash around. It really was fun, although a huge mess. But it could easily be wiped up and was worth the mess for the fun we had!

 at home "waterpark"

Bundle loved the 3 story dark tunnel waterslide and went on that several times with Daddy. She even climbed the 4 sets of stairs to get to the top by herself. This made for one tired little girl who fell asleep while we were eating dinner later that evening.



It was a great weekend!!

~Angela