May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!

So if you're a nerd totally awesome, like me, then you're excited and maybe a tad bit obsessed with the premier of Hunger Games!!! (Look out, I feel like there will be even more than usual exclamation points used in this post!!!)

While in attendance last night at a fabulous wedding of two amazing people (well actually four people. The  brides were twin sisters and they decided to have their weddings together!) I about tackled this lovely girl in a teal dress because I spotted her most amazing Mockingjay Pin. Luckily, being obsessed with the books also (i.e. wearing the pin) she totally understood my excitement and why I ran over to talk to a complete stranger. Needless to say she sat at our table, where myself and a few other Hunger Games Fans made quick friends...it's bringing people together!

But I was inspired to look up where to buy such a fabulous pin (yes, I am a total dork. I totally know), and found all this other stuff as well!!

Catching Fire Lip Tint at Theme Fragrance on Etsy

Brass Arrow Bracelet at InGodsHands on Etsy

Everdeen Family Book of Herbs Journal at Creobos on Etsy

Rue's Lullaby at PixyStitches on Etsy

Stay Alive T-shirt at NoseAndWhiskers on Etsy

MockingJay Pin at SpotLightJewelry on Etsy

 Honestly this is the tip of the iceberg of Hunger Games crap stuff! Etsy has pretty much anything you can imagine. SO get your geek on and find something ridiculous to wear! Happy Hunger Games.

Laundry Sucks!

There are a lot of things I love to do; crochet, watch movies with my husband, drink coffee (that should have been first), play at the park (well, I like to take my kids to play at the park, I like to sit and talk to my mom friends...while drinking coffee), and many many more relaxing activities. However, the one thing that would NEVER make this list is doing the laundry. I despise the laundry, if "hate" was a word I used (and it's not because it's not nice) then I would say I h&$# laundry. In an effort to motivate myself to be better about keeping up with the laundry I decided to make my laundry room a little prettier. Here's what I was working with...

View as you walk in the door. Lovely.

"Folding table" (yeah right) 

This space is across from the folding table. It's a little awkward, but nice for extra storage, which i was taking full advantage of!

 So, first of all no judging (I'm doing enough of that for the both of us!) And second, although it wasn't much different from this, I did take these photos as I was starting to clear things out. I know, I'm totally making excuses for myself. It's horrible. I admit it. Lastly, before we get to the after (and I feel a bit redeemed), we painted the walls when we first moved in. I wanted something bright and cheerful and man oh man did we get it!! I was between two paint colors and decided to jump right in and go for the brighter one. Once it was painted I immediately regretted my decision ("milk was a bad choice!" Will Ferrell fans anyone? No? Okay, moving on). It took a little while for me to get used to it, and to stop closing the door when I walked by! Okay on to the "Afters"...

Much better, right?

I bought a tablecloth at Ross and cut it up and hung it on a tension rod. I didn't take a picture of what the curtain is hiding because then you'd go back to judging me.

Bought a little hangy thing (technical name) to put my mops and brooms on.  

Anyone else just LOVE Hobby Lobby's 80% aisle?! It's great! I got the little laundry sign, the tray and the little white board for under $10. The wreath was also from Hobby Lobby, 50% off, so it was like $4, maybe less. The two jars were from Ross, I paid $6 for the both of them and the shelf I got from Goodwill. It was $4.99 and I painted it white with some leftover paint in the garage.

Of all the things in this room the tablecloth turned "hide our crap" cover is my favorite!  I used the other side of the tablecloth, cut some holes in the top and tied it with twine to our Laundry Caddy. It's great because this sits right next to the door, so even if the laundry door is open, you're not staring at all our dirty clothes!

So, in full disclosure I feel like I need to tell you that the prettier laundry room only "kind of" helps motivate me to do laundry; I still "h" word it most of the time. And I totally cleaned up the room before I took these photos...just so we're honest with one another. 

It's been TOO long!

I have this tendency to ignore things I know I should do but don't want to think about (not a great personality trait when comes to things like PAYING BILLS!) This blog, unfortunately, became one of those things. It has been months people! Months!! Now some of that time is for totally valid reasons (and to validate myself I am going to list them for you now.) First, we traveled a lot towards the end of summer and into the fall. My sweet brother-in-law got married so we were flying back and forth to Colorado for bridal showers, bachelor parties and the wedding. Then the unthinkable happened...the computer BROKE! It was awful. After weeks of fixing it and then breaking again, fixing and then breaking, I finally took it to the computer repair shop and they proceeded to keep it for TEN weeks! TEN! And then at the end of those ten weeks, they still hadn't fixed it! Anyway, (and I promise this not-so-interesting story will be over soon), we finally took it to the Apple store where they fixed it for free and in about an hour. So, we've had it back for about 4 weeks and I have spent a considerable amount of time working on New Millie and "pinning" everything on Pinterest. But it's time friends. It's time to get my little act in gear with my blog. SO welcome back! Here are some things that have happened:

This is the nap mat I made for Harper. (She asked me the NIGHT before the first day of school to make it and being already emotional about sending my kids to Preschool, I agreed. I was up very late.)

Crazy Girl and Sweet Boy on their first day of school! Look at them with their backpacks!

During one of our visits to Colorado Daddy took Luke to his first Baseball Game (Go Rockies!) He loved the game and the Hot Dog!

 My Sweet Boy got his first hair cut.

Strawberry Shortcake and Superman ready for trick-or-treating. (Note to self: do not wait until the day before Halloween to find a costume because you think you will be the only person who procrastinated. Because you will end up buying your daughter a costume that is too small and picking up a costume for your son that was laying on the floor and praying the whole time in line that the actual owner of said costume does not come and rip it from your procrastinating fingers.)

 Luke busted his head open on a window. This trauma could have a whole post dedicated to it but I'll spare you the details and just give you the facts: It bled A LOT,  he ended up getting a ton of stitches, but we gave him (and mama) chocolate and he (we) felt better.

We celebrated Christmas at home. And we have like 84 videos of it and only 2 photos. So, sorry it's not great!

Harper had her first sleepover with her best friend Lorelai. (Another note to self: just because two 4 year olds stay up until midnight, that does not mean they will sleep in the next day. They will actually get up at the exact same time they always do and then be emotional messes for the next two days.)

Ok there's the run down! This is hopefully the start of a more consistent blog life.

Come by soon and see what I did with this atrocity!

EMBARRASSING!

Things I'm Making Today

I woke up this morning with the "sewing bug!" Which was great becuase my great friend's the Kuntzs' just had their second little boy and I was wanting to make little Graham a present. I am also overly excited about some new additions to my family (arriving in February!) and decided to make them a little "I can't wait to meet you" gift! I'll post some photos when everything is finished, and I am working on a tutorial for a little "Everyday Skirt" I made for the Crazy girl, but for now, here's some of my inspiration...

Buy the pattern here to try for yourself (or find one online for free!)

 

 

Find the Tutorial here

You can buy this hat here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Summer, Summer, Summertime. Summertime."

Okay, raise your hand if you and your sister ever made up a dance to DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's "Summertime." Am I the only one with my hand up? Gosh, I love that song. I admit it. And I love summertime! Now, we have lived in many parts of the country and have experienced summer in may different places. A cool ocean breeze in California, a morning sweater in the mountains of Colorado, an evening baseball game in Missouri and long nights in the Dominican Republic, but a "Texas Summer" has only one description: Sweaty. It is hot and it is humid and you find yourself just trying to get from "air conditioning to air conditioning." A pool is a must. An indoor playground is a definite. And good friends to sip a Mocha Coconut Frap with is essential! So here are a few of our favorites for a Texas summer!

Old Navy

I am lucky enough to have good friends to go swimming with every week! Playing with kids, wanting to model modesty for my daughter and being around other young kids, led me to buy a new one piece (something I hadn't worn since Junior High summer camp). I bought this one at Old Navy (except mine is bright pink with white polka dots...cute!)

Buy it on Amazon

In order to feel good about yourself in that bathing suit you might need a little help from our good friend Jillian. I'm a BIG fan of a Jillian workout. She will kick your butt and she'll do it in about 25 mins! "Ripped in 30" is a progressive boot camp style workout program. You do one workout for a week and then move on to the next level. It's hard core and you may want to literally punch Jillian Michael's in the face, but just mute her and keep going, it's worth it!

Mocha Coconut Frap at Starbucks

Do you like my progression of items? Bathing suit, workout video, sugary and fattening drink, next I'm going to post a bacon burger with cheese! But in all seriousness (or as serious as you can be about a coffee drink) this drink is amazing! It is like summer in a cup, and if you need to feel better about it (like I do) order it "light" with no whip cream. Some would argue that defeats the point of having this amazing creation, but others are so thankful I just gave them this option...you know who you are.

Hippo Pool at Target

My in-laws were just in town and they graciously bought this pool for my kids. They are now obsessed with being in the backyard and playing in the water! They jump and slide and rarely run into each other or yell that someone is in their way (I said "rarely" not "never"). And the best part is; I can sit in the privacy of my backyard, in my non mom bathing suit and get a tan, while my kids are completely entertained!

And on a good summer day, this happens...

Happy (Texas) Summer!

Firsts

I had a few "firsts" this weekend. Now if your here just to see pictures of my kids, you might want to just skip this post, because they might not mentioned again...maybe.

I finally completed and posted my first pattern to the Etsy shop! (applause, applause). It is something that I have been wanting to do for awhile and just....haven't. The Hot Doc has been badgering encouraging me to write down my patterns for sometime and I think he was pretty proud that I actually did it.

Find the Bear Hat pattern here!

I was also featured in two fellow Etsy seller's Treasuries, which was really flattering! A Treasury is a collection of items of other sellers that usually fits a certain theme. Find the Treasuries here and here!

Okay, for those of you that held on until the end, here they are in all their craziness glory!

They have fun together.

The Best (and easiest) Question I've Ever Asked My Husband, My Daughter's Fashion Sense and Etsy Stuff

So, I could of split this post into three separate days of writing, but decided I would include all of; I like to have a little bit for everyone, you know?

First. I have said before that the Hot Doc and I are totally opposite! Sometimes being opposite doesn't matter. Like, he is the best person to hang out with! He cracks me up, he'll always offer to let me watch a girly movie (but I always decline, mainly because while I'm crying at Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding, when she's at the wedding and has to give the "best woman" toast, but just the day before she was telling the groom how much she loves him, and you know that even though she means everything she is saying in her speech, it's still completely breaking her heart, you know that scene right? Well Jeff would be making fun of her or me the entire time, kind of ruins the moment), he says "thank you" for everything, and reminds our kids to do the same, and even though he leaves for work at 5 am, he still takes the trash out on "trash days." But in other things, being opposite does matter. And in our house, cleaning is one of those things. So a couple weeks ago, I asked the Doc to tell me some of his top things around the house that he would like me to make sure to pay attention to. This is what he said: keep our room and bathroom clean, manage the laundry (I loathe laundry!) and make sure the kids' trash cans are emptied regularly (because let's be honest, pee diapers can really start to stink!) So easy right?! So when I can't keep on top of my daily schedule, I just make sure that the Doc's three things are finished. It's awesome! I love that he notices when things are clean and he appreciates that I am taking the time to make him happy (because let's be honest, I don't really care if the bed is unmade...but he does.)

Next. I've been documenting a couple of Crazy Girl's outfits. From a VERY young age, she has insisted on dressing herself. Sometimes I put up a fight, but other times, I just flat don't care. She thinks she looks great, and if you know Harper, it's really difficult to change her mind...about anything...ever.

Heart sweatshirt, over flower dress, over white skirt, over striped leggings

Prom picture

Blue flower shirt, over purple shirt, jean shorts, over striped tights

Drooly dinosaur shirt on Sweet Boy

As you can see, she likes the layered look.

Last. I started a facebook page for New Millie (go here, check it out, write a comment, click the "like" button!) I also have a few new items for sale on Etsy, here are a few...

Spring Time Hat

Sweet Baby Hat

Charlotte's Headband

Also, coming soon is the first of many COUPONS! What! What! (That just felt right). Discounts are coming everyone! So become a fan of New Millie on Facebook, check out the etsy page, be a fan of this blog and go find more beautiful photos like these at katielittlephotography.com! Man, I am bossy today!

Happy Wednesday!

Real Life (and some other stuff)

So we live in Texas and the Rodeo is kinda a big deal. And by kinda, I mean it's totally a big deal! This year the Rodeo ran from March 1-20th and every single day there were two hours of Rodeo events followed by a concert. The concerts were performers like, Rascal Flats, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Lady Antabelum, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw and many many more. It's kind of ridiculous. Besides the rodeo and concerts there was also an entire carnival complete with roller coasters, a ferris wheel and an endless amount of (over priced) games and an extremely cool Livestock show. Jeff and I left the kids one evening and caught the Rodeo and the Gary Alan concert, which was great. And the kids and I met up with our good friends, the Allens, and headed over to the livestock show. The kids did the petting zoo, which Harper hated (so much of our dreams of her Mutten Busted), but Luke LOVED! We also visited the chick hatching station (so cool), we looked at cows and sheep and huge pigs, the kids ran and rolled down a hill (for like 20 mins) and then we grabbed a lemonade and went home!

Houston Rodeo!

Sweet Boy and his new friend

Lookin' at some Longhorns

I did not bring my camera, so my wonderful and picture obsessed friend, Angie caught a few of my kids (there were a few more, but either Harper or I had our eyes half shut. I thought I would spare you.)

Now on to "other stuff"

If you have boys, then you know it is hard to find unique clothes (on a budget) and if you sew, it's hard to find creative patterns and tutorials. HOWEVER, I have found two great blogs that have some great stuff! The first I Am Momma Hear Me Roar and the second is MADE. They are both wonderful and have full sections devoted to "The Boy"

I was going to make Luke a bow tie to wear on Easter (because, what else am I supposed to make), but then I found this great tutorial on I Am Momma Hear Me Roar...super excited! (Check it out! I would have posted a picture, but it is of her son, and I didn't feel right about using it without asking!)

Happy Tuesday!!