Rosebud Organics

2012-01-06T22:43:00.000-10:00

Why I haven't been blogging lately: Pinterest!

Pinterest.com is a great way to organize all of the great ideas I find in blogs or anywhere else online. You can make "boards" to "pin" pictures to and put a little comment under them to remind yourself/tell others what it's about. I use mine mainly for homeschool preschool ideas and fun DIY projects I see around the web. You can follow boards that your friends are creating as well.

Genius!

I need all the help I can get with organizing my crazy life in 2012. Happy New Year y'all! :)

Florida Fun

2011-11-27T00:37:00.001-10:00

How to survive flying across an ocean and a continent with three kiddos: much energy and creativity (Here Nathan is building a tent), snacks galore (more for me than the kiddos), and a bottomless bag of cheap toys (a bag of $0.99 plastic frogs saved my sanity for half an hour...)

The Cousins!!! Way too much cuteness here, it was just one long precious moment that lasted two weeks!

Bonita Beach, awesome shells!

Naples Zoo with the family. You can tell they're brothers a mile away! I got stung by a bee here, but I have no hard feelings against the Zoo, it was gorgeous there. :)

The Southernmost Point of the USA! Key West was absolutely packed full of a fabulous eccentric vibe. The history there is intriguing, and the photo opps are plentiful! Nathan is totally holding Sam in the butterfly pic, I was super impressed.)

Going on a baby alligator hunt!

Super fun trip!!! Thank you for letting me share it with you! :)

Love, Jess

November 18th... and counting...

2011-10-26T22:15:00.000-10:00

Confession: I'm counting the days until November 18th, when The Twilight Saga's 4th movie, "Breaking Dawn" (part 1), comes out in Theatres. I even put it on my husband's calendar, and every once an awhile I bring up the date and he's like, "I know, I know..." (I love that he likes me even though I'm a goof.)

Hmmm, this---> .)

looks like a one-eyed smiley face, no?

Anyway, I'm not in too much of a hurry to meet up with November 18th, as I have an awesome family vacation coming up, and I cannot wait to see the East Coast gang! Yippee! :)

(FYI--Found this card on a pinterest site, they found it on etsy.)

Princess Wall Decor

2011-10-26T10:02:00.003-10:00

I made this for under $10 to decorate the wall above my kiddo's twin bed (didn't want to hang anything heavy there, ya know?).

I found clearance material and clearance flowers, and instead of doing something difficult and crafty with the Snow White panels, I just hemmed the thing and stuck it to the wall with thumb tacs.

To hang the roses, I tied a knot in some ribbon and tacked it to the wall, then stuck he flowers in. My girls are all about princesses. As I write this they are playing dress up as the "Kitty Cat Queen," and "Cinderella." :)

Pajama Preschool: Sink or Float?

2011-10-22T22:15:00.001-10:00

For "B" is for Boat week, we did a little sink or float experiment. First, I had the girls make their own boats out of tinfoil (I helped my 2-year-old a bit).

Then they loaded the boats up with objects to see if they would capsize.

All of our boats held up outstandingly well. :)

Next, we dropped items in one at a time to see what floated and what sank. We made lots of guesses, like, "Oh sure, the metal spoon will float!"

Afterwards the girls got to just play and soak the kitchen floor. Good clean fun!

Fall Fun

2011-10-11T09:59:00.002-10:00

This is what happens when I can't sleep...and since I finally got glue sticks for my first ever glue gun, I went a little crazy. I made these on Sunday night, adding a bit of fall to our little apt.

I gathered these at the pumpkin patch this past weekend on our way back to the car. It's a bunch of old corn stalks. Fun and free!

A silly little frame...should have let the kids help with this the next morning, it looks like they did it anyway :)

Practicing my roses...my DIY Designs Hawaii buddy Janean taught me how to make these. Addictive. I will probably turn them into hair things for my kiddos at some point in their lives. :)

Can't Judge a Book by it's Name (not all the time anyway...)

2011-10-07T19:40:00.001-10:00

Recently, I started going to a weekly Mom's group. I went for the first time excited to hang out with Christian moms, and glad for my homeschooling kiddos to have friends to play with in the next room while we met. Then I saw the book: Lord, Help Me Grow Spiritually Strong in 28 Days (but we're doing 3 chapters a week--what rebels!). Judging the book by the name, I went into it thinking it was going to be some emotion-driven, sort of watered-down spiritual checklist of a text. (What a terrible pessimist I sound like!) Anyway, I couldn't be happier to have been wrong about the book!

It is not touchy-feely at all, each day there is a foundational Christian principle discussed, with the Biblical passages all written in the book (Good for mom's who are reading while holding a sleeping baby and can't easily flip between the book and a Bible! Yippee!). There are questions about the passage with space to write your answer, but the authors ask you to answer using words from the text so as not to take the scripture out of context. I honestly felt silly doing this, but it makes you think and reflect and lets truths sink in deeper than usual speed reading allows.

Well, these past few weeks have seriously been super encouraging and challenging for me. I have really appreciated getting to know these women, and have loved this opportunity to pray for them and their families. In reading this book so far, I have realized that I have become someone who tries to survive the day, instead of someone who is focused on glorifying God in my life. Ouch! I hope it keeps hurting, and continues to make any part of my life that is not aligned with God's will uncomfortable, as He molds me bit by bit into someone who loves and lives like Jesus.

Gardening on a dime (-sized lanai/balcony!)

2011-10-02T21:25:00.000-10:00

We just bought some more plants for our teeny tiny lanai today (our balcony). The girls absolutely love "taste testing" the herbs... we have oregano, mint, Italian basil, cilantro, and parsley. They pinch off little leaves of each and shove them in their mouths before the germ-a-phobe in me has the time to beg the girls to let me wash them.

Today one of them may or may not have (but definitely did) eaten a tomato leaf!

(Not naming any names....^)

Besides the herbs, we have 2 tomato plants, a cherry tomato, chives, squash, 2 cucumbers (from seeds), 2 beans (from seeds), a strawberry, 4 sunflowers (from seeds), and 7 or so other flowers (I picked up the flowers, strawberries and chives today, so fun!). The girls help me water them every day, and it's so cute that they know the names of most of the plants. Even way up here on a tiny ledge they can experience dirt and beauty in our little apartment garden.

Onesie funsie!

2011-09-25T22:52:00.001-10:00

I made this for an old student's new baby brother. I put a book in the onesie to stretch it out nice and tight to make it easier to draw on. :)

This was a fun gift to give, I just tucked it into the backpack at school. However, I have a ton of friends who just had babies or are about to any second now, and I am having the hardest time with my same 'ol arch nemesis--shipping! I have the best intentions, but I just can't seem to package a thing up until it's too small for the kiddo! (Or until it's three months after Mother's Day, etc.) I really could use some help in this area. I'm so sorry all of you cute little friend's babies out there, I'll try really hard to get my act together this week sometime...
:)
~Jessica

Bumbo uses...

2011-09-19T19:06:00.000-10:00

Did you know that a Bumbo turned upside down makes a great laptop desk? As long as you don't mind sitting on the ground. Thought I'd share... :)

***Disclaimer: I am writing this as a Mom who has not gotten much sleep lately, and, as a result, I am quite possibly loopy. Also, it may actually be a very uncomfortable position to type in for those who have any sort of posture left in them...I've been carrying around a super cute crying baby for hours, so I couldn't sit up straight if you paid me to. One last thing... I have no idea if these Bumbos combust easily, so use them at your own risk.

~Jessica

Crayon art!

2011-09-17T20:29:00.002-10:00

Step one: Glue the crayons to the canvas. A glue gun would be great, but all I had was white school glue, and it worked just fine.

Step two: Prepare your workspace.

Step three: hand over the blowdryer to a child and SUPERVISE CLOSELY!!! This is hot wax! (Notice that I have before and after pics and none during the process because I held my kiddos in my lap during their turns.)

...color splatters could be cool though, it's art, so whatever you want it to look like :)

TA-DA! Still wet here. This was so fun!

I can't remember where on the world wide web I saw this cool idea, but if I come across it I'll add credit info here. :)

Happy Grandparent's Day!

2011-09-11T16:07:00.000-10:00

Today is Grandparent's Day! We are so thankful for our amazing grandparents and our parents (our children's grandparents!). To celebrate them, Nathan and I helped the girls with a cute little craft that took several days. Then we stayed up past midnight on Thursday wrapping, boxing up, and addressing them to our wonderful grandparents on the mainland. They definitely did not make it there by Today, which is super sad. I tried sooo hard to plan ahead! I need to start making things a month ahead...I am notoriously late, but have the best intentions. It's been rough trying to get organized after moving 8 times in the past 6 years, I need to be extremely organized or I forget things I can't see. For example, do you know what I sent with the Grandparent's Day presents? Their Mother's Day and Father's Day cards. Yep, I know, pretty bad. But I'm trying!!! :)

Happy Grandparent's Day to all you beautiful Grandparent's out there! :)

My kiddos with their Grammi and Bop Bop, Grandparent's Day 2011

P.S. Did you know...

"In 1978, five years after its West Virginia inception, the United States Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. The proclamation was signed by President Jimmy Carter. (September was chosen for the holiday, to signify the "autumn years" of life.)"

Skitch-in it

2011-09-10T09:36:00.000-10:00

Just downloaded a free app for our mac, check out skitch.com. You can draw and write on pics, amongst other things. Cadi and I had tons of fun with it! :)

Bop Bop's fro returns!

This makes for an easy Christmas card, hmmm...

Kooky for Cookies

2011-09-10T09:17:00.000-10:00

Not all of us Mommies have the time to whip out cookies from scratch on a whim, especially while holding a child or two. I made cookies with the girls not long ago, and I cheated on the dough, but they were quick, yummy, fun, and awesome!

I bought a package of powdered cookie mix (I know, I know...), and prepared it according to the directions. Then I sprinkled powdered sugar on some wax paper and rolled the dough out on it (1/4" ish thick). I stuck another sheet of wax paper on top of the flatened dough, and popped that bad boy into the fridge for around 1/2 an hour.

When I pulled it out, it was the perfect consistency for the girls to do their cookie cutter magic on, and they had so much fun! When they used up all the cut-able dough, I rolled it up, sprinkled more powdered sugar, and rolled it out again. I may or may not have eaten the extra bit of dough that was too small to warrant being rolled out in the end... then I baked the cookies according to the directions on the package.

When I cook for others, I am an absolute germ-a-phobe, but this would be very hard for the girls to participate in without touching the dough with their hands. I settled on washing them up and then watching them like hawks. Sophi didn't last long as a helper, but she tried to resist the dough, bless her heart.

I looked up a royal icing recipe on foodnetwork.com, but it was a bit too runny for our super humid climate

(or maybe I didn't do it right). It sure looked pretty, but I had to freeze the cookies to get the frosting to harden. Who knew that frozen cookies were so refreshing???

If anyone out there has a nice icing recipe, I'd love to try it! :)

Tag blankie

2011-09-09T22:25:00.000-10:00

This is a tag blankie that I made for little Sam. I have made one for each of my kiddos because regular blankets are overwhelming for me, and it just seems much more likely that a tag blankie could be finished before the child is one.

Never made a tag blankie before? It's super easy!

I googled "cowboy," and found a fun sherif's star that I printed, cut, and traced on jeans. I then cut out that star and sewed it onto the horseshoe fabric. I sewed around it three times to look imperfect and to secure the jeans (they fray like crazy!).

To embroider the name, I wrote it with a washable marker, slapped an embroidery hoop on it, and "traced" his info with embroidery. It's as calming to me as coloring was as a kid!

Then I put the fabric right sides together and stuck loops of ribbon between the two pieces, loops on the inside.

To finish, I sewed around the whole thing, leaving a three inch opening to pull the fabric out right side up. Then I sewed the opening closed.

Doesn't he look snug? He loves this thing, he chews on it ferociously! :)

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

2011-09-05T20:28:00.000-10:00

Happy Labor Day to all of you, especially to the mommies who know what real labor is! :)

I made sure to call our dear family friend Marilyn who is my Little Rosebud's Godmother and has been in labor 12 times! She is 80 and has 12 grown children and a bunch of beautiful grandchildren, all well and healthy. We chatted about life a bit and she reminded me that what really matters in life is what money can't buy. I told her that I count my blessings every day.

Thanks for the reminder Marilyn! :)

Apartment School ;)

2011-09-03T23:09:00.000-10:00

We just finished week 2 of homeschooling in our teeny tiny apartment. Right after breakfast, I clear the table, strap Sam in my front carrier, get out my wooden spoon "pointer," and tell the girls it's school time. They LOVE it! Cadi thinks it's a game, and constantly asks to "play school," calling me "teacher." Sophi cannot get enough of art--she can cut and glue for an hour uninterrupted!

I taught preschool as a lead teacher for 2 years, so I have tons of great theme-based units in my pocket to use, but I found an amazing site called Hubbard's Cupboard... and it's all free! We are going through the Bible and Rhyme 3-5 year old lessons, and oh my goodness does Michelle Hubbard have it all together! Check it out if you need any homeschooling, classroom, Sunday school, or fun with your kid ideas!

Got this gently used calendar/bulletin board set on e-bay for $10, woo-who!

I would love to hear of any homeschool ideas anyone might have, I'm new to this! :)

Hello again!

2011-09-01T23:10:00.000-10:00

Hello blogging world! Just thought I'd check in after a billion years, sheesh!
I wanted to share a pic of a shirt I made for my little preschooler this past March for Dr. Seuss' birthday. I needed a creative outlet, so I sat down in my Dad's easy chair with one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books, a white pj shirt, and a set of fabric pens and got to free-handing. I was so excited that it turned out, and Cadi was thrilled! Here she is with Ms. Allie, her wonderful teacher from last year. This year I get to be her teacher, and our kitchen table is her classroom! Homeschooling has been a blast, updates to follow :)

Pirates 4--good news or bad news???

2010-04-24T22:16:00.000-10:00

My husband went to the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 open casting call today. They're looking for pirates and sailors for the filming here (as well as girl Olympic swimmers...). After he waited in all the lines and jumped through all the hoops and shouted "yo ho", he asked when he would find out if he made it. The lady told him it could be two weeks to three months, but that to be honest, he was probably too good looking.
Is this about the only time one would feel bummed out by being told that?!
He's going to be 28 this coming Friday, we're really excited that our friends Dennis and Julija will be in town for it.

Life

2010-04-24T21:56:00.000-10:00

Looking at cars, counting them, calling out colors, guessing where they were going...

Cuddling with Mama

Tea party. The "diaper hand" is to cover the IV used to give her meds.

Playing doctor really helped her feel less afraid

Being comforted by Dada

Life has been busy busy busy for us in the islands. With my husband and I having opposite schedules and two kids and only 24 hours in the day, time has been zipping by at astronomical speeds. Right before Easter my little Rosebud got a "tummy flu" that turned out to be salmonella poisoning in her bloodstream, and we were forced to stop dead in our tracks and reevaluate life. It's amazing what focus one can gain under situations such as these. After four days in the hospital we got our little girl back, the twinkle in her eye reappearing for the first time in weeks. She's doing great now! For those of you who knew, thank you all for your prayers--they said it would be 7-10 days in the hospital, and possibly three weeks, so four was a miracle! For those of you who didn't know, sorry, I was so overwhelmed that I didn't call anyone.

Here are some endearing photos of our stay. We thank God for the wonderful doctors and nurses who helped us to keep up the upbeat, positive atmosphere, and who were very compassionate and honest with our 2 year old. It was also amazing to have my parents here to help with our 1 year old and to come and encourage our little Rosebud in the hospital.

Time flies when you're busy

2009-11-28T21:16:00.000-10:00

Just thought I'd post a sheepish blog with a cute pic. Sorry, life as a preschool teacher and a Mommy is a bit busier than I could have dreamed, but it's a lot of fun too. My life is inundated with controlled chaos. :) The girls are doing well. Just yesterday my little Rosebud looked up at me and said "Sometimes giraffes are my favorite in the whole world. Sometimes." And my almost 8 month old takes after me to a "T"--I caught her cleaning up her sister's blocks last night. (She'd gum one a bit, put it in the wooden shape sorting box, then gum the next. She had picked up half of them by the time I noticed.) What a little organizer! (Of course, I like to organize things, but there's not enough time in the day, hence, my closet.)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We all have too many blessings to count! :)

My daughter's account of throwing up all last night...

2009-08-27T15:24:00.001-10:00

Remember yuckahs? Bed yuckahs, pillow yukahs....lots lots lots yuckahs. Then again yuckahs! Remember?

10! and a headache...

2009-07-25T20:59:00.000-10:00

My big little girl counted to ten spontaneously when I started the microwave yesterday. She is growing up way too fast!

On a sadder note, my brother and sister-in-law are visiting us this week and Drew came down with a massive migraine that prevented them from taking my little Rosebud to the zoo as planned on Friday. The migraine turned out to be so brutal that he had to go to the hospital, and a spinal tap confirmed that it is viral meningitis. He's supposed to be released in the morning, and they leave tomorrow-- it's all been so sad for so many reasons! Please pray for him and his fabulous pregnant wife.

Birthday Girl

2009-07-18T19:26:00.001-10:00

hanging with cousins

little friend

pool time!

CAKE!

fun in the sun

First time in the tub

yippee!

party pooper

Mickey cake (Dada ate one of the unfrosted ears by accident last night...)

Yummy fruit decorations

My big girl's big present!

Melissa & Doug dollhouse

sisters (sideways?...)

sisters again

Our little Rosebud just turned two! She is such an amazing blessing and I cannot believe how fast these past two year (and nine months, give or take) have gone by. Today we had a "wading pool party" in her honor.

Dada

2009-07-05T22:39:00.000-10:00

He's Home!!!!

Update

2009-06-30T11:47:00.001-10:00

Wow! I have a three month old! And an almost two year old, when did that get so close? I have been having a really outrageously good time being a Mommy. It has been really hard without their Daddy home for over three weeks now, but I've been learning a lot. The funny thing is that with all the help I've had with the kiddos, I wasn't very confident in taking care of them by myself. Last weekend my parents were away on a trip to the Big Island and I got a taste of what it's like raising two kiddos on my own without help, though I have nothing on single moms. They have jobs on top of the full time job of raising kids, and I have a day to count down to when I can see my husband again, Lord willing...5 more days!!!
Anywho, the girls and I have been having a lot of fun enjoying one another's company. My three month old is extremely smiley and talkative, loves the ceiling fan (thinks it's hilarious), sleeps great at night, and is very intent on watching her sister's every move. My little toddler is addicted to waffles and Boba (bubble tea for all of you in the islands), loves walking to the beach with her Bop Bop and playing with her Grammi, reading books, tubby time, going to the zoo, watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (she knows just who to ask to watch it too...), and is talking up a storm!!! I need Dada's computer to download pictures, but I'll try to get some new ones up asap.
Love to you all!!! :)

the stand-off

2009-06-17T23:15:00.001-10:00

I had a 45 minute stand-off with my beautiful little girl this evening. It was sad. She was not obeying very well, and though I can reason it away as a teething, sleepy, missing her Daddy sort of temperament, it isn't good or safe for her to not obey her parents, so I brought in the reinforcements: time out. All she had to do to get out was say sorry for not obeying (just a quick "sorry" would have sufficed). She cried and screamed and mournfully yelled out the names of toys in the room she wanted to be playing with at the moment ("Bllloooocks....baaaabieeees, etc.). I kept repeating in an even voice that she could definitely play with them after she said sorry. 45 minutes later a small sorry escaped her lips, followed by a hug and a kiss, and off she went playing.

Kids are supposed to be testing their boundaries as they figure out their little place in life, and parents are supposed to stand their ground when the battles warrant being fought, but boy it's tiring! It isn't easy being a Mommy...especially one who's husband is a touring musician. Sigh.

On a happy note, she immediately forgot the trauma and we played tons, read books, and I got to cuddle her to sleep. I thank God every day for these two little sweethearts.

My vote went to Danny

2009-05-21T12:14:00.000-10:00

Okay, yes, I admit that I followed American Idol this season. It was my toddler's favorite show besides Mickey Mouse, and it was recorded, so we got to zoom by the commercials, which was a plus. My favorite contestant was Danny Gokey. He just seemed like a fun kid you would know from youth group, and he had a lot of character in his voice. Danny's a worship leader from Milwaukee who's wife recently passed away of a heart condition (check out Sophiasheart.org, a non-profit organization he founded in her honor). He made it to the top three, but Paula picked a really bad song for him, and the other guys were just really good, so alas, Danny didn't make it to finals. Sad. So while my parents were voting for Adam (my Mom voted 200 times), and my husband was voting for Kris (sorry love, hope that doesn't ruin your reputation), I decided to forgo the texting and not vote at all. I liked Kris' style and thought Adam was amazingly talented, but as a disheartened Gokey fan, it didn't really matter which of the two won. Did any of you vote?

Currently Reading...

2009-05-20T11:09:00.000-10:00

Haven't written in a week due to this crazy flu thing. The kiddos haven't gotten it thank God, but Nathan and I have had a groggy week. I got this book from the local library recently. Don't worry if you're not pregnant, it has a lot of useful info on everyday healthy living. One fun site it recommends is Not Too Pretty, where you can view a "comprehensive listing of popular cosmetics and fragrances, and a grading system on their toxicity levels." Clicking around the site I found a parent's buying guide to children's personal care products. Aren't you curious?

Sleeplessness

2009-05-14T12:32:00.000-10:00

If you find yourself waking up in the morning with bangs, don't panic. You may just have a nocturnal newborn and a rambunctious toddler under your care, and for this reason (these reasons?), you simply weren't thinking clearly at two o'clock in the morning. If you had been, you would have definitely put the scissors down because you would have remembered that you simply do not look good with bangs.

Fun in the sun

2009-04-21T14:23:00.000-10:00

The girls enjoyed hanging out with their cousins last weekend!

Our littlest one is three weeks old today, I cannot believe it. Time sure flies when you don't sleep :)

Our biggest little one just had her first dentist appointment yesterday. Her Dada went in with her, and I got to sit in the waiting room listening to my daughter screaming. I think it scarred all three of us. As a reward we got her some sushi, her absolute favorite treat (can you tell we rarely give her sweets? :) ) She loves it so much she speaks of it in a hushed whisper, "sushi," and asks for it (in a hushed whisper, of course) whenever we are going anyplace in the car.

She just went to the beach with her Grammi. Littlest one is sleeping in my lap (her days and nights are flipped). I'm feeling blessed... and loopy from lack of sleep. :)