Community Helper Day

It was Community Helper Day at Brayden's preschool this past week, so he chose to dress up as a firefighter.  We had the jacket and hat for him to wear, then I dug out a sprayer hose attachment from our garage and that was his "firehose" to put out fires.  He loved it.

When he came home that day, he had made a policeman hat and badge.  He made sure I knew that he was "Policeman Brayden."  It fits.  He randomly will tell me to "be careful, Mommy" when I drive.  I promise I am a good driver, but it makes me laugh to hear him tell me that.

I Love You Because...

Recently, I printed this art that says, "I love you because: _________"  I framed it and use the glass just like a dry erase board.  Each day, Jonathan and I switch off writing reasons we love each other.  It sits on our bathroom counter, and I love each day seeing what it says.  It's been such a great way of remembering how amazing my husband is and telling him consistently how I appreciate and love him.

Source for printable: Eighteen 25

Christmas in Oklahoma

So, I know this is WAY late, but better now than never.  Here are our pictures from our time in Oklahoma over the week of Christmas.

Peeking out the door Christmas morning...

Brayden with Aunt Amy

Brayden with Uncle Paul

Sweet hugs with Mimi

One of Paul's many creative wrappings.

The painting I made for Mom

He was so excited!  I love his expressions!

Christmas breakfast w/ the fam

We were so excited we got to see Erin, Jared, and Emsleigh

while in Oklahoma.  Brayden loved getting to play w/ Emsleigh for awhile!

Sweet cousins

Tea with the girls!

Sara, Amy, and me

Big family picture of everyone...I love Christmas!

It was such a special treat to get together with some high school friends

while in town.  Melissa and her hubby were back from Honduras,

which was a great surprise to hang out with them while they were back in the U.S.

We got to see the entire Wilson family while in town.

It was so great to see their whole family.  

We grew up doing everything together,
and it had been too long since we all hung out!

Amy and Bekah are 10 years younger than Katie and I.

When we were little, we took a very similar picture holding Amy & Bekah

...when they were babies.  They were a *little harder to hold this time.  Ha!

Go Sooners!!!

One of Brayden's favorite things to do this trip was getting

everyone to play drums with him.  See ALL the pictures below...

...with Nanny & Grandpa

...with Papa

...with Amy

...and with everyone else who would play with him!

He's quite a cutie in those glasses, I might say!

Christmas Creativity

Christmas makes me want to make fun things and be creative in my gifts.

This year, we made homemade salsa and banana bread

for our neighbors and made a fun label for it.

 For Brayden's preschool Christmas party, I made these cute reindeer

candy bars that I saw on Pinterest.  I wrapped the Hershey's bars 

in brown cardstock, made antlers with a dark brown cardstock 

and glued them on, then I glued on googly eyes and a reindeer nose.

Another thing I saw on Pinterest was a way to make

super easy "homemade marshmallows"...made from Cool Whip.

1. Spread the Cool Whip out on a cookie sheet or in a pie pan.

2. Freeze   3. Cut out with any shape cookie cutter

 Place in your hot chocolate!  It makes it super creamy and delicious!

Craft Day - Wood Photo Blocks

One of my favorite projects we did at Craft Day was "Picture Wood Blocks."  I found this tutorial via Apartment Therapy, and it is a MUST DO.  You actually transfer the ink from a picture onto a block of wood.  So cool!

The supplies you need for this project are...

Wood block (I got a 1"x6"x5' board that I got cut into 10" sections at Lowe's)

Gel Medium (I used Liquitex Matte Gel from Hobby Lobby)

Mod Podge

Picture printed on a regular piece of printer paper from your home printer

   (Tip: since you'll be laying the picture on the wood, 

    so it will be reversed, so before printing, flip it horizontally.)

Black craft paint

Paint brush or foam brush

Ribbon & staples/staple gun to hang wood block (optional)

Video tutorial here on Apartment Therapy.

Cut your picture the size of the wood block.  Coat one side of your wood with Gel Medium and lay your picture down.  Let dry overnight.  The next day, get a paper towel wet and squeeze the water out so it's just damp.  Wipe over entire board so picture is wet.  Begin using your fingers to wipe away the paper.  Your picture will be left!

After getting all the paper off, coat the wood in Mod Podge.  Let dry.

(Note: in the picture below, I didn't reverse the image on the picture.  It's not the same wood block as pictured above.)

If you want to hang your wood block, cut your ribbon to size,

and use a staple gun to attach ribbon.

One last detail to make it complete is to paint the edges in black craft paint.  

The edges don't have to be perfect.  Now it's ready to hang!