still loving our moms

So Mother’s Day snuck up me this year! I hope the moms in my life still know I have nothing but love for them, even if their gifts are a little late, hehe. I didn’t know what to give my mom or mother-in-law this year and my sister came up with a great idea. She pinned this apron from Simply Kierste and wanted to get all the grand-kids to stamp their hand prints on it. Since I live the furthest away it only made sense that I buy the apron and then ship it to my sis, who in turn can give it to mom. And I can mail my mil’s too. So I looked around at some aprons, but nothing struck my fancy and I decided to just sew one. I searched online until I found the perfect one: the purl bee’s unisex apron. It has simple lines and no extra frills. I just skipped the pocket in the front and left space for the kids’ names and hand prints.

The tricky part was finding fabric paint and deciding how to write out everyone’s name. Kierste uses a Silhouette, but I’m not that cool. After a quick trip to Joann’s, I had some Martha Stewart craft paint and some pretty awesome stencils ready to go! Did you know that they also sell tons of adorable trim?! Yep, I scooped up some flower trim to give the apron a more feminine flair too.

During one of Stone’s naps, Starr Lil’s and I started crafting. First, we tried the paint and the stencil on some scrap fabric. And good thing we had some construction paper underneath, cause paint goes right through fabric.

Love her outfit. Charlotte and Starr Lily share the same taste in clothes (everything goes with tutus and jackets, that is)

Then I wrote out everyone’s names while Starr Lily painted and danced and jumped.

The hand stamping was the most exciting part. I asked her where she wanted her hand print and after finding just the right spot I brushed some paint on her hand and on it went. Then she stamped all over the construction paper!

what a great idea!

She loved seeing how moving her fingers around made different shapes on the paper too. I didn’t want to put paint on Stone’s hand since it goes right to his mouth these days, so I painted his foot while he was sleeping. It looks more like a smudge, but it’s the thought that counts, right? My mom’s still needs a few more hand prints from the other grand kids, which my sis will put together, but for now they’re ready for the mail!

So here they are Mija and Nana Starr! Feliz dia de las madres, even if it’s a little late. We love you and miss you a whole lot!

Great job, Mama!

Did you get your moms gifts on time this year? Does grandma have a special nickname in your house?

Mother’s Day Ideas

What do you want for Mother’s Day? Amanda and I were chatting today and reminiscing on all the things we were able to do before little people joined our lives. Here is a short list of things we (or any momma of toddlers or babies) would love for Mother’s Day:

1. A solo morning. Waking up on your own (perhaps in this delicious looking bed) without anyone poking at you and enjoying a nice, hot, long shower.

I imagine there is also a sea breeze that wafts gently through the windows…

2. A cup of coffee out without having to share with anyone. Throw in a scone and a book and I’m all set! (Click on the coffee for a recipe to a yummy coffee, orange body scrub.)

mmmm…..coffee without a 2-year-old jumping on my lap….delicious

3. Girls night out. Remember going out and getting all dolled up? Yeah, that was fun. Add some adult conversation with your friends and a glass of wine to really live it up!

I’m sure this women’s small children are just cropped out of the shot

4. Shoes. Pretty shoes! Maybe just a trip to the mall to window-shop shoes. Who am I kidding, a solo trip to the mall would be great! I wouldn’t even need to buy anything!

I’m also content with just trying one pair of shoes without having to stop and provide a snack

5. Have someone else be in charge of schedules, snacks, food, meal time, boo boo’s, and an occasional “Hi love, you’re doing a great job!” would be amazing.

I’m sure this is exactly what it looks like when Doug is watching the kids without me around

Best part, they are all FREE! (wink wink, dads)

Want to take a claim on these freebies mamas? Here is a little coupon book Starr Lily and I came up with. It’s cute and slightly cheesy, but she loved doing it with me!

First I took a sheet of construction paper and folded it into 6 equal pieces: one title page and 5 coupons.

Then I wrote the coupons and gave them to Starr Lily with some crayons. She drew some circles and asked for help drawing triangles, rhombuses (rhombi?), and hearts. It must be all that math love she inherited!

Add a bow and done!

Yup. Drea just made her own Mother’s Day Present and pretended that Starr Lily did it 🙂

Dads, get ready to have these cashed in, duh duh duh…

Happy Mother’s Day!