Enveloping Our Important Papers.

We have a lot of papers. Moving overseas creates LOTS of paperwork. I had a plastic folder that I kept it all in, but it's dieing a slow and painful death. I brought a whole plastic tub of fabric with me to Texas. I have used some of it, but most of it has been sitting.
Shamefully.
Recently, I was surfing the web (ok, glued to Pinterest) and I found a great way to start using the fat quarters that I buy, and really any scraps big enough.  Here is the original post I found. It is no sew, which I was a bit apprehensive about, but I love the result! It's pretty, and reusable, plus it shouldn't fall apart after a couple of uses! Right before I started the first one I asked the Squid if he wanted one. He looked at me funny as if to say, "How do I say this without being mean?" But, he said he'd like one and later admitted, that upon second thought he was really excited about it. His is the Green and Brown one. He picked those to be professional. :)

I picked up a package of fusible web. If I had to do it again, I'd probably get a stiffer one. Just for structure. The lady at Hancock's was very helpful, since I have never used web I wanted to make sure I got the right one. The double sided one. 

I took one of my selected fat quarters, cut a piece of webbing to fit, ironed the rough side to the wrong side of the fabric, and let it cool.

 Once it was cool, I stripped off the paper, if you look real close, you can see the difference in color of the fabric. Maybe I should spend some time honing my photo skills.

I then put the wrong side of the second fabric down on the fusible part and ironed it together. After it had cooled, I took my envelope pattern (just an envelope I had opened up and made a little bigger) and cut it out of the fabric.

After ironing the creases in the envelope, I ironed a strip of the webbing rough side down to one of the flaps, stripped the paper off, and ironed it down onto the other flap. I did the same for the bottom.

I sewed buttons on the top flap, and just below it for a closure.
These are all the envelopes I made last night. Sweet!

West Texas Frame of Mind.

Well, we made it to our next temporary home. We are in west Texas for 3 months until the Squid finishes school. (I would have posted earlier, but I had some internet issues. I'm sure the Squid would say I wouldn't have this problem if I wasn't the last person on earth without an IPhone.) The base is smaller than we are used to, but the same size as the Florida base we were on for the Squid's A school. We contemplated staying with the in-laws for just a bit longer, but we were done being apart. Here we are in a really nice place, and we are looking forward to being together for quite some time.

One of the reasons we decided to stay together, is our impending overseas move. I have to be honest, I really never realized how much went into getting a family overseas. I know I should have expected all the paper work, waiting, vehicle maintenance/changes,  & medical/dental issues. Not to mention the cultural issues to be addressed. But, I was hopelessly naive.

We thought we had all our passports taken care of, but later was told we had done them wrong......wa wa waaaaaaaa. Lame. We have since started the fixing process, but its slow going. Although the woman helping us is great, so that's helpful! Otherwise, we are really jazzed getting everything together and even doing a little house hunting. I know I still haven't disclosed the location, but all in good time. Until then, I hope to make the best of West Texas. I haven't ever been this far west and can't wait to enjoy all it has to offer.
So far, I have gotten to experience Hastings, which I love, Hancock fabrics, since there isn't a JoAnns :(  , and a one Starbucks town........wierd right?

2,629,743 minutes.

That's how long The Squid and I had been married on our anniversary this year. 5 years.

New Years Eve has to be the best anniversary ever, always a party. 

This year however, I was thoroughly prepared for a night at home alone with the kids.

There I was 2 days before New Years, putting the kids to bed (unsuccessfully I might add), when I get a phone call. I had been talking to The Squid all day and he got off the phone so that he could go work out with a friend. It was him of course, we talked for a minute before he divulged that he had mailed my anniversary gift. I was super excited, he has turned into the best gift giver! He told me that he had paid a load of money overnighting it to make sure it got here on time.

I was a little miffed and told him he should have just sent it regular mail! What in the world was he thinking!? He chuckled and said, and I quote...

"Well, if it makes any difference, the delivery man is really hot."

Then...you guessed it! A knock on the front door. 

I opened it to find his gorgeous face staring right back at me!

It was amazing! I had no idea and was so excited to see him! 

We had a great anniversary, consisting of a movie and sushi!

What was the gift you ask, no it wasn't him surprising me. 

This, a beautiful new wedding ring. 

My first one was awesome, but considerably less expensive because we were broke. 

Here's the kicker: it's from Tiffany & Co. THE Tiffany & Co. Gorgeous Lamps, Audrey Hepburn, little blue box Tiffany & Co.!! 

Amazing!
----------------------
I did get The Squid an anniversary gift, well 5 actually, since we've been married for 5 years. But, they seemed lame in comparison. In all fairness, I wasn't playing in the same field.

Uncommon Goods

 Actual working windup salt and pepper shakers.

Uncommon Goods

A touchpad stylus.

Uncommon Goods

 A lifesaver vase.

Uncommon Goods

 Candy dish that looks like an open Ziploc.

Uncommon Goods

and a Scratch off Map. Scratch off where you've been!

I'll spare you all the sappiness that accompanied all these gifts, but it was there. :)

Why Buy the Box, When you can get the Colors for Free?

*Warning: Shameful lack of photographs!*
One of the crafts I did this last 6 months was for Christmas. At the time, there was 5 children in the house ranging from 7 to 2. While in the pantry one day I came across a gigantic box of broken, half used and least favorite crayons. It was a big box, seriously I wish I had a picture of just how big this box was! As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to do something with it.

I Googled how to make your own crayons and set off to make my own. 

After many hours of peeling and breaking crayons we had at least one tupperware container of each color, and some colors had more than 1. 

I noticed when searching for "recipes" that the main difference wasn't how they were made, but what color combo was reached. Should I have one of each color in each crayon? Should I have just one color? I decided to stick to one color for each crayon, and included shades of that color. 

My next decision was what shape. I could do hearts, stars, gingerbread men, whatever, but in the end I went to Joanns and found a silicone candy maker that was little squares. I thought that the younger kiddos would like the ease of use, and it was the right price.

 After filling each square with bits and pieces of each color I "baked" them for 30 mins at 200.

After they were cooled they popped right out of the mold. I split the number of each color by 6 (I sent some to my nephew) and put them in bags. On Christmas morning each kid got a brand new coloring book and some new crayons in their stocking.

The kids love playing with them and I have to admit so do I.

They are so pretty.

A Squids HandMade Christmas, Year 2.

While I got to spend the first Christmas in 3 years with our families, The Squid wasn't here. 

That along with not having a house of our own, or our own stuff and it was...hard.

But, I got happy in the big girl panties I got sad in, and made it the best Christmas it could be! 

I love Christmas!!

(**Warning: I really dropped the ball on Christmas pictures this year. Sorry.**)

We became the happy owners of an Elf on the Shelf. I told my "Santa" I could only handle one mischief making Elf in our family, so we got a "Family" Elf.  

We named him Beetle Pod Squid,

 Beetle Pod got together with my nieces Elf Rainbow and had quite the time, putting all our tree ornaments on the mantle and then roasting marshmallows over a candle fire.

 There were funny and wonderful grandkid pictures. (We unfortunately were missing one that day, she made into others though.)

 We visited with family and friends!

It was Glorious!

We are so very blessed!
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Last year, the Fort Ladies and I did a hand made Christmas. We all picked out of a hat and whoever we got we handmade them a Christmas gift. I received lovely things from Jade. I carried this through to my grandparents and aunts and uncles, and made them some lovely hooded scarfs.

This year I wanted to continue the tradition. Shamefully I again don't have many pictures, because I just wasn't thinking.

I managed to whip up some stockings for the kids using an old shrunken wool sweater of my sisters.

Before(not the actual one, but one just like it.)

 

After. 

I am pretty jazzed. 

I think they are adorable.

The hot/cold compress was such a hit previously, that I made one for my mom, dad, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Like this one.

Everyone received a box, a "De-stress from the Holidays" box.

The box for the ladies' contained a hot/cold compress, a bookmark, a reusable teabag, and a small envelope of loose tea.

The men received a hot/cold compress, and a bottle of whiskey. 

My brother got a sleep mask and a cup sleeve, both made of Thomas the Train material, and a bottle of whiskey also.

I think my family likes whiskey. :)

A Puzzling Valentines.

I had planned on posting my Christmas post today, but since Feb. 14th is sneaking up on me I switched it up and will post that on Monday. 
This Valentines Day I had started getting the "bug" back so I helped the kids make our family Valentines.

 These cards were our Valentines 2 years ago. Just paint and a rolled up piece of cardboard box.
I sent out chocolate covered pretzels with them and they seemed well received. This year I opted out of candy or sweets and wanted to do something fun.
I saw this craft 2 days after making ours, while looking at one of my favorite blogger mommies, who got it from a mommie blogger, who got it from a mommie blogger, well you get it. I knew I had a decent idea (that I probably saw on one of their blogs :) )

I had taped craft sticks together

flipped them over and then used the same blue painters tape to create robots.

I then had the kids go crazy and color them however they wanted.

When they were dry, I pulled off the front tape to reveal the robots and write the messages,

then pulled off the back tape and had instant Valentines Puzzles.

I think they are pretty great.

The left overs are being heavily used by my Squidlets, they love putting together puzzles they made themselves!

31

October was my birthday month, and The Squid was back for a short while just in time for it. I left the little ones with my sister and spent 8 days away from them. 

(This was scary for me, the only other time we've been apart overnight was when our youngest was born.)It was weird, but amazing!
I surprised (at least attempted to surprise) The Squid with my visit and was there when he arrived from the airport.

We had a blast! It was so much fun! I couldn't stop smiling the entire time!
We went to funky, wonderful restaurants in Baltimore,

Photo Origin

 like Paper Moon Diner,

Photo Origin.

 and Alchemy.
 Both were Freaking Amazing!!
We also went to a rotating sushi bar in Towson called Kyodai, which was really, really good!
We went to the movies, and slept in late,  and I received some amazing gifts for my birthday which included but weren't limited to....

 this AMAZING Fossil purse, 

and

 an IPad!
Both of which I am in love with!

I can't thank The Squid enough for making my birthday once again the best birthday yet!
I am so spoiled!

:)

Cupcakes For Dinner.

I wanted to share this with you just because I loved them so much, and they were a big hit. I found a recipe here at SkinnyTaste, for Skinny Meatloaf "Cupcakes" with Mashed Potato "Frosting". It was SO good, the kids loved it and were adorable eating their "cupcakes". 

Yes, he is actually eating it like a cupcake, to cute! :)

Showering Mom.

One of the highlights of our last 6 months was that a friend of mine had a baby shower, and then.....a baby. ;) This is her second baby and she now has the girl she wanted, so I knew she would be getting all kinds of lovely girlie things. I mean, who doesn't love buying adorable little girl things? 

I picked some things off her registry and those were "from the Squid" since he was deployed.
For my gift, I decided to do something just for her. 

She had a C-section so I thought about her healing process and what I could do to aid in that even just a little bit. 

After a fair bit of brainstorming I came up with....

 a homemade heating/cooling pad,  Lady Jade made one for me when
I was last pregnant and I loved it!

 Some home made scented witch hazel spritzes,
I just added some Jasmine oil to Witch Hazel. Smells yummy!

 Yummy chocolate covered pretzels.

 And for those moments when her 4 year old is in need of some serious distraction, a dry erase Thomas book. 

It seems to have been a big hit! Yay!