Very Pinteresty

When it comes to teacher gifts, I think substance is important...in other words - GIFT CARDS. Let's keep it real here - they deserve a little more than a candle at Christmas for all they put up with during the year!  However, I'm all about packaging it up in some sort of cute way and Pinterest is perfect for that.  This year, each teacher got a package of Extra gum (plus a Target gift card) inside a clear gift baggie along with a note like this one tied onto the bag (created in Photoshop Elements):

Cute, huh?  The downside of Pinterest:  I may never have another original idea in my life.

Elvish Fun - Nights 1 and 2

After Jingle arrived this week, Katelynn quickly became obsessed with feeding him.  She really wanted to set out a meal for him.  I pointed out that our story book said nothing about this - so therefore Santa must feed him, or he could take care of himself.  You know, he could stop by the local McDonalds' on his flight home from the North Pole.  (Side note:  It's so funny that kids want their fairy tales to be logical to some extent.  Yes, she can believe that there is a small felt elf that moves about our house at night, but surely he needs to eat!) 

So, I thought it would be appropriate for Jingle to set up his own tea party on night 1.  Here he is with a couple of KK's beanie babies. 

When KK woke up this morning, she immediately went and checked Jingle's previous resting spot on the fireplace mantel.  She ran to our bedroom, where I was getting ready, and announced excitedly:  "He's gone mommy!  He moved!"  She had a bit of trepidation about searching for him alone, so she waited till I was ready and we journeyed into the living room/kitchen area together.  As soon as I flipped the lights on she saw Jingle and his tea party.  She was just bursting at the seams with glee and excitement; I love seeing my normally somber (or irritable or grouchy) girl like this!  She really started giggling when she discovered there was actually water in the cups.  Then she flooded me with a barrage of questions:  How did the other animals get down the stairs?  How did Jingle find all the plates?  And on and on.... oooh I'm buried deep in lies now!  (The tangled webs we weave...)

Tonight I decided to borrow one of those Pinterest ideas.  Jingle couldn't find any snow here in Texas so he played in the rice instead.  Good thing we have a humongous bag for him:

Looking forward to another morning with a mesmerized little girl...

The Answer is Yes

About once a month, LBJ Highway is a complete disaster and Gene takes back roads all the way home from work. When this happens, I often get a phone call that goes something like this:
Gene:  "I'm taking back roads home...want me to stop there?"
Katie:  "Yes."

Gene:  "I wish the calories weren't so high."
Katie:  "I don't care.  My weight never changes.  Stop and get them."
Gene:  "I wish it wasn't so expensive to buy a small amount."
Katie:  "It's a rip off.  Get a dozen."


By now you may have figured out we are talking about cookies (as if the picture didn't give it away).  Very, very decadent cookies.  From Paradise Bakery.  These things are amazing.  Gene's favorites are chocolate chip sprinkled with toasted coconut.  My favorite is a toss-up - chocolate chip walnut or oatmeal raisin. And since we have a strange 5-year old that does not like cookies, we have 6 apiece to ourselves....or maybe that is a curse.  We made the mistake of looking up the calories one time.  About 300 big ones for one chocolate chip cookie.  


Nope - so worth it.   I'll just run 5 extra miles this week.

It Only Took An Elf....

Jingle awaits his first night of mischief in the Kim home...

....to break my 2+ month blogging hiatus??

I guess we will see.  Lately I just haven't been feeling the blog thing.  It seems like one more "to do" on a big, long stressful list... writing is normally enjoyable for me but it can also feel like work when I'm trying to make it read somewhat decently for my vast audience (ok, so all 3 of you).  So I just decided not to do it for awhile.  But today our "Elf on the Shelf" arrived in the mail and the whole experience has screamed "Blog me!" 

I had no idea what an Elf on the Shelf was till this year.  I will chalk this new (to me) discovery up to our friend the Internet, and Pinterest.  It seemed like suddenly I was seeing pictures of this happy little elf doing all sorts of silly things in peoples' homes.  The basic jist:  your elf is keeping an eye on your kids and flies to the North Pole every night to report in to Santa. He doesn't move except when the little ones are fast asleep.  When the kids wake up in the morning, the first thing they do is see what their elf has been up to. 

So for $30 on Amazon Marketplace we got our little elf and the nice book that comes with him.  Seemed a little steep to me, but - let me tell you- I have one smitten 5 year old.  I think it is going to be way more than $30 worth of fun for both of us!  This is right up this mommy's alley.  KK has already named him Jingle and is taking all the "rules" laid out by the book very seriously.  (She can't touch him... he can't talk but is observing her...etc.)  She has talked about nothing else all evening!  She even said at one point:  "Mommy, he's eyeing me!"  Hmmm...it does kinda' feel like his eyes follow you around the room...a little spooky actually.  And thanks to the Internet, I don't have to come up with too many ideas on my own, just enjoy the fun of making them happen.  I can already pick from a vast list.... should Jingle be fishing for goldfish crackers?  Decorating cookies?  Making snow angels in rice?  Hmmmm....what to do first?  I can't wait for her to fall asleep! 

More blogs later with some of Jingle's antics...

Oh Happy [Reading] Day!

Today Katelynn read the following words all on her own, using phonics:  am, an, ad, at, rat, pat, sat, cat, fat, mat, bat, hat, man, fan, ban, ran, can, van, tan

What an amazing parenting moment to see that lightbulb over her head go "click!"  I was a little hesitant about this post because I don't want to come across as a show off and I certainly try not to be one of "those parents" who talks incessantly about her kids.  But I am posting away, because it was truly a joyful moment that I couldn't help but document!  She was beyond excited; it's rare to see my often serious girl with such a big smile plastered on her face.  And mommy was excited too.  We called Daddy and Nanna right away.  


For anyone interested or curious, we have been working through The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington.  My friend Erin recommended it.  The format is easy to follow for both parent and child, and has been fun for both of us.

A Post for Nanna

Well, I know that Nanna will not be happy about the Pinterest post unless it is followed with appropriate posting and pictures of one of her grandchildren.  Tyler has been up to a lot of cute things lately that I felt deserved a mention anyway.

13 months is such a fun age.  It is also really interesting to watch your second grow and see how different kids are from one another.  Things I somehow expected to be the "same" as his big sis are so different.  For example, Tyler walked a little earlier than KK - but that's not what surprised me.  I knew there might be differences like that.  But he did surprise me with the insane speed in which he has ramped up to coordinated FAST walking.  The little guy could tear across the living room at warp speed with a couple of weeks of his first steps.  KK's ramp up to fast walking was much more slow and cautious and took a couple of months.  

Tyler is super expressive and chatty - this is the same as his sis.  However while she spoke her first clear word at 7 months, he still mainly babbles. However, it is clear he is trying to communicate.  His favorite word besides "mama" is "Oh!" - said in all sorts of cute and different ways and with different kinds of emphasis, often as a means to point out things he wants to touch or "discuss" with mommy. I really need to capture it on video because it is melt-your-heart adorable.   

He loves to take things in and out of bags and can occupy himself for quite awhile with this task.  He likes to get into the plastic cups in the pantry and take them in and out of the various school lunch bags that reside there.  He then proudly carries his filled bag around the living room.  He has become super observant of the world around him.  He likes to get his own wad of toilet tissue and hurl it into the potty after mommy, sister or daddy are done.  He also likes to take a wet wash cloth and "clean" the floor the way he sees mommy do so frequently. 

Who knew these tiny little people would capture my heart so... Yes, Nanna, you knew - didn't you?!

Pinterest Projects

So, I can thank/blame my lovely SIL Jen and this blog post for introducing me to Pinterest.  Not only am I copying Pinterest, but I am also copying her with my latest projects.  I will also attempt to use this as my latest sorry excuse for not blogging too much these days...a girl can only focus on so many things at once!

Project 1
I finally tackled the "art wall" that I had wanted to create for the little girl, to display all her creative drawings and crafts.   Here's the inspiration from Pinterest, which Jen found for me... she is also doing a smaller version for her daughter's play room:

And here's my almost identical take on it:

I got the vinyl letters from DIY Lettering, and the service/ quality was great. 

Project 2
I love candy displays and have seen some cute ones on Pinterest, but they seemed pretty loud and large.  Then I saw my SIL's take on the Pinterest project and pretty much exactly copied her version.  This will be my new tribute to seasonal decorating, since I basically do NONE other than Christmas.  At least  now I will have some appropriate candy for each holiday/season.  Here's the original idea from Pinterest:

And here's my version which is similar to Jen's...I might add a cute ribbon to it to liven it up a bit:

Also thanks to Pinterest/Jen I have become re-enthused about home decorating.  I feel I am below average at it, but I am trying to improve by copying all these great ideas.  I am also finding that browsing lots of pictures helps to train my eye as to what looks good in a room.  It still does not come naturally for me at all.  But I have spruced up a few things in my living room and bedroom without spending too much $$.  Maybe a separate post later about that!