stuff i love: miss plunkett accessories

I've had a lot of inquiries about the sweet necklace in the bag on this post. 

Here it is on my Ella Bella. She's super girly-girl and loves it as much as I do.

traveling with small children: tip #3

One of the first things Ella asked when we returned from Southern California was, "When is our next trip?" She loves to travel. But we've had our share of not so great days, melt downs and tantrums too. This isn't really a single tip, but a compilation of ideas that have worked for us to help alleviate (or at least lessen) the drama.

A Home Away From Home
The first thing Ella does when she arrives at a new location is "set up" her room. For small children, familiarity makes them feel more safe and secure. Home is a safe place. So we allow her to choose a few "treasures" from home to bring along. When we arrive at our destination, she arranges them in a special place or just keeps them close by. The point is, find something that will make your little one feel safe and secure in an unfamiliar environment.

traveling with children: tip #2

Though we don't like to think about our children ever getting separated from us in a large crowd, we all know it's a possibility.

We always briefed our little ones that if they got lost, to stay in one place and find someone with a badge. We also had a secret password that anyone picking up the kids from school, practice, etc. in a emergency had to know before they would leave with them. Kate's was Butterfinger. It was her favorite candy bar. :) Fortunately we never had to use them, but it's good to be prepared.

There are a lot of great products out there kids can wear so if they're separated, parents can be contacted right away. Here's our simple version.

traveling with young children: tip #1

We just got back from our annual adventure to Southern California to visit Grandma and Grandpa Chiniquy and Mickey and Minnie.

My daughter, Kate and granddaughter, Madi joined us for three days at Disneyland. It was Madilyn's first time to the happiest place on earth. There is nothing that compares to watching little ones see a "real" princess for the first time. Don't you agree? It's magical. If you ask Madi what she did when she saw Tiana in the parade, she'll answer, "I freaked out." She did, and it was hilarious.

Traveling with little ones is always a unique experience. :) But there are also some very simple things we do to make it more enjoyable.

Planning ahead is a big one. I package up one outfit for each day--including undies and hair accessory--in a zipper bag. When I get to the hotel, I put them in a drawer and Ella can choose one each morning. It saves time (no rummaging through the suitcase to find items) and tantrums. I noticed the last time my granddaughter, Madi came for a sleepover, Kate had each of her outfits packaged up. Like mother, like daughter. :)

a simple teacher appreciation gift

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at our school. Ella's teacher, Debbie Reiber, is one of those exceptional, amazing and gifted teachers. She's been a huge blessing to all of us. She's loving yet firm, consistent, and her classroom is very structured. These qualities are so important to help children feel safe. But she's also fun and creative, which makes learning a joy for her students. We couldn't appreciate her more.

tips for a RS basic quilting class

We had a lot of requests from the Relief Society sisters in our ward to learn to quilt. A couple of months ago, we held a basic quilting class that was very successful. Here's how we set it up:

One of our instructors, Monica, teaching binding.

Instructors
I approached three very experienced quilters to "team teach" the class, so no one teacher would become overwhelmed. We broke the class into a three part series and each teacher was responsible for one part. They were all so enthusiastic and did an awesome job!

Paper Coterie: about a girl book

This little package arrived in the mail yesterday.

Ella's teacher, Debbie Reiber, asked each of the students in her class and their parents to make an ABC or numbers book. They'll be displayed at the "Look at our Books" program on Friday, after the children put on a special program. Ella has been bouncing off the walls with excitement.

summer fun: the meadow fairies

Ella saw a penny in the Target parking lot recently. After picking it up she said, "The Meadow Fairies have sure come a long way. They must really be tired." It made me smile.

taco salad

When spring weather hits, I start craving salads as a stand alone for dinner. This is my absolute favorite taco salad recipe and a family favorite. I love it because it's healthy, not heavy like some others I've tried, and best of all, it's simple to make.

easter basket fillers: all things girly

I admit to being practical when it comes to stocking stuffers, Valentine's goodies and Easter basket fillers. I'd rather purchase a few really nice items than a lot of less expensive fillers that end up being tossed or broken soon after the festivities. So what are my tricks to purchasing items that will make both me and the little ones happy? It's simple. First, I plan ahead and start gathering things early (to spread out the expenditures). I store my stash in the top drawer of my filing cabinet behind the files--shhh!  Second, I save items I'd purchase anyway if a holiday is approaching.

simple journaling

I have a document on my desktop labeled "Ella Funnies." Each time E says something sweet or darling or funny, I add it to the list. I've been keeping it since 2008. It's a super simple way to journal and I love going back to read it occasionally. I tried writing things down, but this is much easier for me simply because I don't have to keep track of a notebook. When I fill a page, I print it out and add it to her life story binder.

Here's the latest entry.

RS birthday celebration

We held our Relief Society celebration last week. It was a delightful evening and I had tons of help from many talented sisters.

This was the invitation I created. We send ours out via e-mail to all the sisters so it worked great. (I had another ward ask to use our invite, but when they tried to print it out it was slightly pixelated. So if you use the image from Pinterest, know that it's only about 400 x 600 pixels and can't be enlarged.)

Seriously love this little couple though--they make me smile. They were perfect to set the stage for our vintage theme.

memory keeping: a simple dance scrapbook

We call our Ella, "Ella Bella Tu Tu" because she loves to dance. She started taking lessons at The Dance Conservatory when she was two years old. Even more than dancing, she loves to perform.

Last month TDC had their winter concert at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo. The dancers performed Mary Poppins.

There's Ella, third from the left.

At the end of the dance, the girls got to "strike a pose." Ella practiced hers over and over. :)

I found Ella thumbing through her "dance book" the other day. It's a simple scrapbook in a "half pint" or 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" album. I used the same size album for my family favorites recipe book.

valentine's matchbooks 2012

With all the candy Ella received, I feel like Valentine's has become the new Halloween! So did I send the girls off to their love day parties with Valentine's goodies too? Well, of course I did! :)

I used my matchbook template again (why mess with a good thing, right?), and some darling digital papers and clip art from Cocoa Mint I found on Etsy. This year I also added photos of the girls. They loved them. And I love that it makes them feel special.

RS birthday celebration invitation

Happy Birthday Relief Society! March 17th marks the 170th birthday of the largest women's organization in the world. All women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints belong to the Relief Society. It's purpose:

"The Relief Society prepares women for the blessings of eternal life by helping them increase their faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and help those in need."

The Relief Society has been a great blessing in my life.

This is the invitation I sent out for our birthday dinner/celebration. I love this little couple! (Found the photo on Pinterest.) The tape strips and fabric flag are free downloads from Pugly Pixel. (Love her digi stuff and inspiration. And she's got great tutorials.)

Our theme for our March meeting is "A Return to Simpler Times", all vintage-y. We're focusing on simplifying our lives. I'm loving it. And I've asked some amazing women to help out. I'm super excited and can't wait to share the details after the event.

Have a happy day. :)

party hearty: a valentine's craft

Ella played the guilt card recently and won. :) She told me all the other mothers help at class parties and I don't. She was right. So I volunteered to do a craft for the kindergarten Valentine's party.

cooking club: Oreo cake bites

I had a bunch of friends ask where they could order the cake bites we served at Patrick and Ashlee's reception. Apparently they were amazingly delicious. I wouldn't know, I never got the time to taste one. Even more surprising, neither did Ashlee. And she helped make all 350 of them! She confessed she was on the LGN (look good naked) diet at the time. :) She cracks me up.

happy birthday, glade lynn mccrary

Lynn at 4 months old

Just want to wish my favorite guy in the entire world, the best birthday EVER! I love you more than chocolate, manicures, date night, shopping and even Target. :) Yep, you're loved a ton! Happy 55th Birthday, Hon!

cooking club: homemade yogurt + granola

We held our second Cooking Club for Relief Society this week.

It was at the home of my friend, Breanna Smithson. She's known as "the foodie" in the ward/neighborhood. :)

She taught us to make homemade yogurt. (It was kind of a personal request from me.)

wedding: the wishing tree

Another one of my "assignments" for Patrick and Ashlee's wedding reception was the "wishing tree." It's a place guests can leave their advice and well-wishes for the couple on little cards and hang them on the tree. It ended up being one of my favorite things about the reception.

Traveling home from Costco one afternoon, I spied a huge pile of tree branches in a field. I yelled at Lynn to stop and turn around. The owners had just cut down part of an apple orchard, so the branches were still fresh and "living." Perfect.

I had purchased a few different jars because I wasn't sure which would work best. I also had an urn as an option, but it would have been more formal and I knew Ashlee wanted simple. After Lynn cut apart the branches, we arranged them and found the tall jar with a wide mouth allowed the branches to spread out best.

I liked it the way it was, but Lynn insisted it needed a filler in the jar. The next day he found a bag of smooth river rocks at Home Depot.