12/27/2019 0 Comments Watercolor Family GiftSo pleased and proud of my husband for making this beautiful family portrait in watercolor for his Mom! It was quite an accomplishment with so many people included. I helped a tiny bit with doing some of the coloring but he came up with the layout which I love—his parents surrounded by clusters of their children with their own families, even those who have passed on. It’s crazy how even without faces we still know who everyone is!
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12/2/2019 0 Comments Christmas Time is Here!We got our Christmas tree!! I am in love. It touches the ceiling and lights up the house with its beauty. I think it’s the same species as last year (Black Balsam) from the same farm in Elk Ridge (Peterson Trees). Jer says we should keep the tree up as long as it lasts, and I agree! We’ve enjoyed lots of family time and Christmas traditions this month—quite a lot to catch up on! Check it out below.
11/18/2019 0 Comments Batman Potty Party!We’ve had a potty for 2 years hoping our now 4-year-old son would just use it one day when he was ready, but he was showing signs of readiness so I needed to learn how to teach him. I borrowed a Potty Kit for Boys from the library with books that came with a baby doll, mini potty, bottle, and the book “Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day: Proven Secrets of the Potty Pro” by Teri Crane. I got 3 other potty training books and prayed for success since I really did only have one full day to to dedicate entirely to potty train. A ton of effort but... It worked for us!
11/8/2019 0 Comments Mama RetreatMy sister is pregnant with her second child, and super excited to be having a girl! She recently earned her degree after many hours of online study and a busy internship, and completed a stressful move with packing, cleaning, and moving everything only a week before we took this photo. As far as she knew there wouldn’t be a baby shower, though it sounded like she really wanted one. After some sister-to-sister talks, we realized she had most of the things she needed—she was just burned out. In lieu of a baby shower, my other little sister and I did a Mama Retreat for her at my place! We took care of transportation, food, and activities so my sister didn’t have to worry about anything except enjoying herself. Her husband even got on board to help watch their kiddo so she could get away!
My sister in law is having her first boy! Her nursery is neutral colors with wooden accents, and features a car play mat which inspired the theme for her baby shower. Many of our close sisters and sisters-in-law just recently moved to the other side of the country so I also put together packages with the invitation so they could join the celebration over FaceTime. My favorite moments were from the fun “Words of Advice” activity as all these seasoned moms and sweet women shared their experiences with raising boys. My mother in law also made an incredible white bean minestrone soup which I still want the recipe for! Her home is gorgeous and the perfect backdrop for a gathering, she did a wonderful job hosting! Photos below...
11/1/2019 0 Comments A Happy Doctor Who-lloweenIt’s a Timey-Wimey-Wibbly-Wobbly Halloween this year in our Doctor Who family costumes! For fans of the BBC show, we dressed from left to right as Robin Hood, the Impossible Astronaut, the TARDIS in human form, the Last Centurion (Rory), and the Eleventh Doctor. Check it out because... Bow ties are cool!!!
7/5/2019 0 Comments DIY Little Passports: JamaicaTo learn and grow from places around the world, we started a homemade project, the World Explorers Club. This month takes us to Jamaica in June! Not gonna lie, putting this package together was a serious challenge—I almost gave up, furiously working on it until the very last day of the month. L kept asking if her package came every day the last couple of weeks... so sad it took so long to finish. Although I had already bought the souvenir it didn’t seem like enough and I wanted to include something meaningful. Also, how to navigate many of the “non-kid-appropriate” stuff Jamaica is known for (aka a long history of slavery, piracy and prostitution, rum and weed, the economic divide...)? We concentrated on kid-friendly spots like Luminous Lagoon and Dolphin Cove, the concept of “out of many, one people”, Jamaican world-famous food, and of course Bob Marley.
I’m so excited to share some updates of my designs with you! These adorable Princess Fairytale Storybook invitations came from a custom request of a lady who loved my fairytale cupcake toppers.
It’s our second year around the world here at the World Explorers Club! We ended up naming it that last year when I did a surprise DIY Little Passports project for my daughter every month for 6 months. Now we’re ready to upgrade to a full year (12 months). She still doesn’t know who sends her the packages (me), only that she gets to open them every month. Keeping everything a secret is a big part of the fun for me, besides getting to put together playful and learning activities for my daughter. Read on to see how I pre-planned the 12 destinations!
I love Harry Potter and remember when it first captured the imagination of the world 20+ years ago. My aunt was raving about it, and I thought what a strange thing that a children’s book could entertain an adult, and I was curious. Somehow I got a hold of a copy, then didn’t leave my room, eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom until I finished. I couldn’t wait to see what happened to “the boy who lived”! Pretty sure I could summon a Patronus charm using all the happy feelings I have from my Potter-filled childhood. But then there was a break—the series got dark, and my parents I banned it from the house so I didn’t get to rediscover how it ended until many years later when I watched the movies and figured the book must be way better. This design was so fun to brainstorm and wanted to make an illustrated design that was fun, colorful, and unlike anything you could find elsewhere for Harry Potter. The fun is in the details! I wanted to hide a lot more, but there comes a point when you have to feed your kids and do laundry.
We’ve upgraded our flooring to this awesome Luxury Vinyl Plank that’s waterproof, scratch resistant, assembled by snapping together, has a gorgeous variety of dark to light tones, and will hopefully last a while!
7/14/2018 0 Comments Project Kitchen CabinetsI am in love with my new and improved white kitchen (and my handy husband, of course)! He is putting in new flooring next week! Ahh I can’t keep the happiness in!! Stay tuned for details on how my hubby did it, and before and after photos.
My boys will be turning 1 and 3 next week! It's a very exciting time as we reflect on how much they've grown and changed this year. It's also the start of birthday season at our house (all of our birthdays are during the warm months) and Mama's excited to plan a special joint birthday party for the boys, especially since last year Little Guy's birthday took a back seat to Baby Brother's birth. They are close enough in age and young enough that they share the same guests and like most of the same things. At the top of their list is Cars, especially Lightning McQueen. I've been creating some fun birthday party stuff inspired by my sweet boys for their party, so read on to see!
5/17/2018 0 Comments DIY Little Passports: Mexico¡Hola! Our Little Explorer has made her way to Mexico this month in our DIY Little Passports project. We hope this project empowers our kids with a love and appreciation for the people and places all over the world. Mexico this month works out great since we’ve celebrated Cinco de Mayo and have been eating Mexican food regularly. Everyone in our home loves tacos. Ever since the movie Coco came out, I’ve been looking forward to learning more about this beautiful and colorful country. My husband (and therefore children) have some heritage in Mexico, so it’s even more special hearing about what it’s like there. This is also one of the rare places we’ve studied that I can actually tell her about because I’ve been there. Check out what came in her package!
Part of designing fun party invitations is figuring out wording! We love puns haha. Dinosaurs are inherently NEAT to me so it was challenging to think less is more! I’ve been wanting to create a girly printable for some traditionally boyish party themes, and what better theme than a Dinosaur Girl Birthday Invitation. These are not your ordinary dinosaurs—they are party animals complete with their celebratory hats! I had a dream last night about how the boy version of this would look like. It was cute!! Can’t wait to update this post with the design.
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AuthorI'm Kat - designer, code monkey, teacher's wife, and maker of home. This blog is my personal and creative outlet chronicling the special moments of our family. Archives
January 2020
CategoriesAll Adventures Decorating Kids Little Passports Party Personal Projects Teachers Why I Believe |