outside at last

Crazy Oklahoma weather!!  One week we had record lows below zero and exactly one week later we set a record high in the 70s/80s!  We've been so sick of being cooped up and jumped at the opportunity to spend some time outside!  Even though the days are still short, we squeezed in about 30 minutes before dinner time which we were happy with.  Addi, of course, went right for the bubbles!

Have you ever seen shaggier hair?  The "growing out" process is about to do me in!  Once we get it grown out, she will not have layers in the front for a VERY long time! 

Beiber may have cut his hair, but Hofmann didn't! 

in progress

There are actually TONS of projects that I have right now that are "in progress"...maybe I should start a new blog series...ha!

One project in particular is in our bedroom.  My parents just brought up this old armoire that was in my grandmother's house.  It's been in storage for a few years and I decided I could put it to good use!  Here are the before pictures.  Guess what?  I don't have any after pictures yet because nothing has been done to it.  I thought if I posted pictures it would encourage me to get this done and checked off my list!

The white armoire that's in Addi's room was in pretty rough shape too when I got it.  I simply covered the inside with batting and then some fun fabric and that's my plan with this one as well.  I already bought my fabric so it's just a matter of finding time to empty everything out (I already have it loaded down with goodies), disassembling the tracks, stapeling the batting and fabric to the inside, reinstalling the tracks and reloading all of my stuff.  Sounds easy enough, right?

The inside has one very quick coat of white paint but it will all be covered with fabric... 

Except the floor. I need to find some pain to put on the bottom and we'll be set! 

Wish me luck!  I promise to post after pictures, if after ever happens!

padding

So I've been in to padding lately...you know, making notepads.

I'm a pretty picky person and sometimes its hard to find the right notepad and it's easier just to make your own!  It's so easy!

First you need some heavy books,

and Mod Podge,

and what you want to pad.

Simply print out pages that you want to make into a pad and cut them to size.  For example, this particular day I made pads out of my menu form, a to do list that I made and a weekly blog list (because my other one ran out).  They are as big as a piece of letter paper cut in half.  Be sure that they are all exactly the same size...use a paper cutter if you can. 

You also need to cut cardboard backs for them too.  You can either keep the backs of old notepads or you can purchase chipboard at most any mailing supply store.  I bought mine at Office Depot for a quarter for a big sheet.

Next lay out some foil or wax paper so you don't get your table messy.

Stack your pads so the tops are perfectly in line. 

Be very careful when doing this...they really need to be exact. 

Place your heavy books on top of the pads as close to the top as you can.  You need to leave a little bit of room so you don't Mod Podge the books to the paper. 

Use a foam brush to paint very thin strips of Mod Podge on the tops of the pads.  Let dry completely (just a few minutes) between coats.  I typically do 5-7 coats...just eyeball it. 

I've found that 40 is a good number of pages to do in a pad; anything more than that is just a little too thick.  Be sure to add an extra page or two on top though, because the top few get a little icky at the top.

Ta-da! 

The bottom pad in this stack got a little warped because I didn't have the cookbook close enough to the edge.  You really need something very heavy close to the edge. 

I've also added magnetic strips to the back of some of my pads so they can hang on the side of the fridge!

Happy Padding!!

basketball

This afternoon we went to the OU Women's basketball game.  The Roberts four met us there for an afternoon of FUN!  A & O had a great time, but poor baby E was not impressed by the noise.  The first time E started crying, I looked down and A was holding her hand...it was a really sweet moment.  I sure hope A loves her baby sister as much as she loves E!! 

A & O ate snacks just about the entire time...popcorn, raisins, fruit snacks, you name it!  Of course they were too busy enjoying their snacks to both look at the camera at the same time.  Oh well.  We had such a fun afternoon!

How cute are they in their matching shirts?  E had one on too but she didn't make any of the pics.

fitted sheets

Why are these little boogers so darn hard to fold? 

Well, here it goes...my version of how to fold a fitted sheet!

1. place your hand in one corner of the sheet insideout.

2. place the pocket on the opposite side over the inside out corner.  Flip so one corner is inside the other corner and they are both right side out. 

3. repeat with the other corners until they are all folder inside one another. Lay it out and make sure it's in a rectangle with straight edge on all sides.

4. now fold over once longways.

5. fold to desired width. 

I don't know if that makes sense, but that's how I do it.  I like for them all to be folded the same size and shape so the stack nicely, especially in Addi's closet.  Crib sheets are easy to fold, it's the regular bed sizes that get tricky just because of their size.

Do you have any tricks or tips to folding fitted sheets?