Tomorrow morning we head out on a trip to Ventura to see family; it’s a 5 hour car ride and one we are very familiar with! But like most car trips with toddlers, there can be those blessed stressful moments where even the all entertaining ipad won’t calm the savage beasts! So it’s nice to be prepared with a few new items and activites.

I found this lil’ DIY gem of course on Pinterest The great idea originally came from the blog Testy Yet Trying and she called it a Matching Pole!

Simply using any empty paper towel or toilet paper roll, dot stickers and markers, this game can help teach letters, numbers, and shapes (really anything you can fit on a dot sticker) while at the same time teaching matching skills and fine motor skills!  The idea is that the child matches the dot stickers from the page onto the corresponding dot sticker on the pole. I used Liam’s name letters, some shapes, numbers, directions and even a few facial expressions to mix it up!

Liam caught a glance of it while I was making it, and asked very excitedly what it was and if he could play with it! Score! I think it will be a big hit on the road and it only took me 5 minutes to make!

Usually I love decorating my mantel with each change of the season or holiday, but I was having a hard time motivating myself to do anything with the bare brick slab.  I could leave it empty and call it Modern, or maybe Simplistic?

So of course I immediately typed in “decorating your mantel” into Pinterest and of course it gave me hundreds of ideas and inspirations! Most of which were for Christmas, but there were a lot of other wonderful ones to.  Then I stumbled across this awe inspiring post that was the know-all for decorating your mantel for any season!  Perfect!  It was exactly what my tired and idealess brain needed…..

So I set about collecting items from around my home that resembled those in the picture.  I actually matched it up pretty well and I finally got to use the beautiful painting I’ve had hiding in my room!  The only purchase I had to make was for the two blue candles to the left, as I was currently out.

Now that my mantel is finally decorated, I can go back to sleeping at night and the world may continue spinning….

Sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty, and having two boys, this happens a lot over here!  The other day was so gorgeous and warm (in Feb?!) we decided to play outside and dig in the dirt.  Since most of our yard is rock and grass, there isn’t much digging room, but we did manage to make some room in a small abandoned flower bed I haven’t had the desire to plant in as of late.

We dug out some roads for our Hotwheel’s and trucks and lined them with the rocks Liam had carefully selected from around the yard.  I even added a little moss for a mini garden, and Liam found a nice round rock that he said was a pond for my garden.  Sweet and creative boy.


Cohen got to taste dirt for the first time (all apart of childhood) and then I showed him how to bang rocks together….it’s the little things in life!


Ever since I was little, I have loved creating miniature worlds in my surroundings.  Whether it was houses for my barbies, or elaborate villages in the backyard made of rocks and twigs, I was always a happy girl creating small make believe worlds.  Pretty sure I was driving the boys crazy with my strong desire to pay attention to detail…Liam really didn’t care if the rocks lining the road matched or if there were tiny flowers scattered through the “garden.”    I think Mommy needs a Fairy Garden all her own!  Here are few I have seen online….makes me want to create miniature worlds everywhere!

Jasey’s Crazy Daisy

For the Love of Gardening

Go Explore Nature

And in case you’d like to make your own lil Fairy Garden, Here is a great tutorial!

Mom’s Crafty Space

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good and messy craft, but sometimes I need a moment to breath and get dinner ready and I don’t always want to plop them down in front of the tv.

So yet again, Pinterest has come to the rescue! Ziploc Bag Finger Painting! It’s simple, quick, mess free and the boys loved it!

Take a large gallon Ziploc bag and squeeze the desired colors and amount of paints into the inside middle of the ziplock….I put the Ziploc logo on the bottom so that it didn’t interrupt their artwork.

Notice the chubby lil’ anxious hands ready to get started!

Then I closed the Ziploc and taped all the sides to the table so that it wouldn’t slide around.  I showed the boys how to squish the paint through the Ziploc and move it around, swirling the colors!

After awhile, Liam started asking for a paintbrush, knowing more creative freedom would be available, but Cohen, who is still in the “paint eating” stage of life, really enjoyed it!

I absolutely love how they turned out! They belong in an art studio with a starting bid of $100,00! But that just may be my biased “mommy” opinion! I taped them to the side of our pantry and once the excess paint drips down to the bottom of the bag and the remaining paint dries, I’m hoping to cut the bag open and frame their beautiful art work!