decorating with plates

i love the look of plates on a wall.

(bee is really good at this)

i love that it looks feminine, and adds character
to a home. you can make it look

modern or french country.

you can also use any type of plate.

old/new plates, something with flowers, white, pink's,
stripes, or different shades of blue.

what ever floats your boat!

here are few of my favorite!

did you see anything you like??

now, run out and buy some plates! ;)

p.s. i have officially gained 5 pounds on our family vacation...and, it was soooo fun!

have a great weekend!!

moddy

sand in our shoes, and everywhere else...

who doesn't LOVE the beach??!!

some of my fondest memories are of being at the beach.

as a little girl we did the same thing every time

we went to the beach.

we would swim in the ocean, step on the sea weed until it makes a

popping sound, eat clam chowder out of a sour dough bread bowl,

shop down the morro bay main street, feed the seals at a ghetto aquarium,

eat shrimp cocktail, and play in the tide pools.

as i got older i would hang out at the beach with my girlfriends, "meet" (in our dreams) surfer boys,

eat (this is a big deal), hang out at the surf shop, and
watch the fireworks on the 4th of july while sitting on the beach.

serious...memories.

i want my kids to have the same memories.

so, when we go to the beach we do the exact same thing.

(except look for surfer boys, and hang out in the surf shop)

here are some pictures from our beach trip we took

2 weeks ago.

we are leaving again today for another beach trip.

this will be the trip that wraps up our summer... sniff sniff.

bee taught him to drink out of a straw!

(we no longer have our "own" drinks..he takes them.)

clam chowder.

little crabs in the tide pools.

he wanted to take it home!

(not allowed ;$..)

our little family.

we stayed in a beach house, and in the neighborhood

they had these little chairs carved out of the trees.

my chickens had a contest to see who could find the most chairs.

have you ever been to Hurst castle??

well,..they have zebras!!

(yes...that's a pillow pet)

his face says it all.

the beach is the bomb (i couldn't resist)!

so, do you love the beach or the mountains??

moddy

the start of our vacation!

our family vacation officially started on thursday!

my husband is off for a week, and we are so excited!

this year we decided to take it a little easy.

(last year we did a week in san diego...amazing...but, exhausting)

so, this year we have little activities planned throughout the week.

1.we are going to take the 3 oldest chickens to wild water adventures.

2. my husband is taking the 2 oldest boys dirt biking.

3. we are going to see winnie the pooh.

4. driving to monterey to take the chickens to

gilroy gardens, and monterey bay aquarium.
5. movie nights..(remember Willow??)
6.  a couple date nights. ;)

and,..last but, NOT least...

hint: me, no chickens, shopping, friend, and eating..

7. "back to school shopping" with my girlfriend!!

it was so nice to take a break.

i left all day..and came home to 4 happy chickens,

 a tired husband,
(working in people's mouths all day is EASIER than watching kids,.. at least that's what i think!!)
 and a messy house!

(who cares....i was just pumped to be GONE)

first stop anthro.

i saw this..and loved it!

i tried this on...

 perfect....

these are fantastic for fall.

she wanted a rapunzel backpack.

got some random stuff for the boy's.

i got some new kicks for the baby chicken.

the oldest chickens needed some clothes.

got some super cute clothes for the chica.

ate lunch here!

what's your favorite store to shop at for kids??

we also hit home goods...not impressed!!

first time in the history of home goods did i not come home

with an amazing something!!

it was a wonderful day!

i LOVE vacation's!!!

moddy

i love...

bookshelves!

i would love to have a wall completely covered in a

huge white bookshelf!

i think it looks so clean, and

i love to have a place to display my

family pictures, my favorite books,

and collectibles.

here are few bookshelves that

i thought were fantastic!

i love the different prints in the bookshelf.

this is so cute!

super cool for a boys room.

i love the coral/pink, i think i need to do this!

nice and clean.

this would look great in my daughters room.

this is my living room bookshelf !

no, it's not huge.

but, i love it!

(my littlest chicken loves it a little tooo much!!)

moddy

chicken #4

i love when my little chickens turn 1.
it's a mix of emotions.
the one thing i really DO love about them
turning 1, is their 1 year pictures.
don't you just love getting your

kids pictures taken!?

i get so excited when i open up
my email and see

http://www.taphotodesign.com/ .
right after the shoot i anticipate
 how they are going to turn out!
i also love planning
where to hang the pictures.
here are just a few of my favorite!

moddy

girls camp crafting!

myself, bee, and some other women were

asked to do the crafts for girls camp.

each of us were in charge of coming up with
a craft. one of the lady's came up

with this little beauty!
(for you mormon girls out there...this would also
be a great super saturday craft!)  ;)


p.s. this is picture overload!!

we had some left over craft supplies.

so, we made one for our girls!

magnet board
tutorial

 you need mod podge.

metal stove top covers from the dollar store.

(they come in a pack of 2)

1. hammer 2 holes about

4 inches apart  in the top side of the cover.

2. we found it best to use a screw driver and just

 hammer it in, then pull it out.

3. the holes are where you add the ribbon.

4.we strung the ribbon through, tide a knot,

 then strung it through the other hole, and tide a knot.

*this is how you hang your magnet board!

(does that make sense?)

scrap book paper for cover, and to put on the back

of the rocks for magnets.

magnets

rocks from the dollar store.

(gotta love that place)

with scrap book paper scraps

1.the girls traced the rock.

2.cut the paper out. 

3. brush mod podge on back of rock.

4. lay your cut out piece of paper on the mod podge.

5. let dry.

6. add magnet.

trace the stove top cover.

we found you need to cut just inside

the trace line so it

fits the cover just right.

*remember.. it's better to cut the

 paper smaller than bigger.

put mod podge on stove top cover, place paper

on top and then mod podge over the top.

we also had monograms!

the girls thought these were cool.

we layed them out to dry in the sun.

the girls said this was their favorite project!

thanks jen for such a great craft project idea!

*we also had dog tags the girls stamped their

names on and added beads.

*painted chop sticks for their hair.

*rolled flowers for their hair, one to donate and one to

keep for themselves.

random pictures from camp!

bee and her girls!

(does her t-shirt look familiar?)

this girl made my day.

our bed was a joke. it was like sleeping in a taco.

bee trying out planking.

(do you know what that is?)

my nieces :)

the girls!!

it was so much fun spending time with my nieces and

all the other girls at camp.

bee, and i stayed up until 2:30 a.m.

talking with our friends, and eating.

we also did a skit, in which i did the splits!!

(yes...i can REALLY do them!!)

it brought back so many memories.

i hope i get asked again next year!

moddy