Living With A Purpose Everyday!

Photo of the Day: Sweet Love

Sweet Love

I love that my children adore each other. Sienna loves her baby brother (even though sometimes she wishes he was a sister). hehe :) Sienna thinks he's the cutest and gives him many hugs and kisses. Eli thinks Sienna is the best thing ever. He wants to be where she is and play with her all the time. He loves watching her sing and dance and even claps for her when she "preforms" 

I love how this picture captures their sweet love for each other. I also love that after editing this photo to look like a vintage black and white, that this picture looks like it could be siblings from the 50s or 60s. I think it's neat that it could easily be a photo of my mother and her little brother. I love that's it's a timeless photograph. 

Happy September

Sienna & Eli

So I have decided that I want to do a photo sitting with my kids on the first of each month. They are both growing up so fast and change so much in such a short amount of time that i want to make sure that i have some cute portraits of them each month. 

So here's Septembers photo's! Sienna is going to turn 4 this month and that is just mind boggling. She also started her last year of preschool which she will be going to one day a week with me and one day a week with out me. She has blossomed over the summer, a lot of her shyness has melted away and she has grown more confidence in doing things on her own. She is my little helper and loves her baby brother. 

Eli will be 9 months old this month and boy is her growing. Only 10 inches separate Sienna and Eli in their height. He is a  mover and a shaker, crawling everywhere. He can pull him self up on furniture and can get into anything he wants. He's babbling a lot and loves to clap. He is a joy in our home and brings much laughter in to our lives.

Hugs!

Laughter

I love my two monkey's and can't imagine what my life would be without them in it. They make my life full! I wish i could just keep them this small forever. But i know they will grow up and because amazing people. I am so glad that i am capturing this time, so i will always be able to look back and remember their childhood.

Craft: Beads & Buttons Headband

Beads & Buttons

Last but certainly not least here is my "Beads and Button" headband. This one is harder the the first two, but worth the work for this sweet little beaded flower. 

I LOVE Martha Stewart and all her amazing crafts this headband was inspired by a segment she had on her show. Here is the link to the page for the instructions on how to make the flower. How to Make Seed Bead Flower click here. There is a video on the same page, watch it, it's super helpful. Even they they have a super cool tool to help put the beads on the wire, i just strung them myself. So you can do this without any new gadgets. I loved this little flower so much i made two larger ones for me that match and I will be putting them on a necklace. Sienna is excited about us wearing them at the same time so we can match :) 

What you will need:

Seed Beads (tiny little beads mine were orange)

Buttons (I did all mine in yellow so they would match)

Large ribbon (I chose black so the buttons and flower would pop)

Needle and thread (i chose orange thread to match the beads)

After making your beaded flower attach it by sewing it on to your ribbon. I chose to put my flower to the far left, but you can put your where ever you wish. Make sure the flower is secure, shack it a little, because kids can be rough and it doesn't hurt to add a few more stitches. Next sew on button where ever you like, I did four on either side of the flower. But you may need more or less depending the size of your child's head. 

So here you go, three sweet craft projects to do and make for your sweet daughters. I hope you enjoy them and love them as much as I do. Get out there and use what you've got and come up with your own fun styles of head bands. Happy Crafting!

Craft: Cute As A Button Headband

Cute As A Button

I have been loving making cute little headbands for my little girl and this is headband number 2. "Cute as a Button" is just what it's title says. I Have had a large jar of vintage buttons for years and haven't used them. I think this is a great way to use buttons! All you need is a few things to make this really sweet look for your daughter.

What you need:

Buttons (All shapes sizes and colors)

Think Ribbon (Mine is satin and green)

Black thread and a needle

You most likely have all these things in you house already. Make this a cheap, fast and easy craft. Now you could go through all your buttons and pay them out just how you would like them. But that's just not my personality. I have my daughter pick one or two buttons then i sewed them on, then i had her choose more and just placed them wherever they looked best. I like it being free hand and not overly thought out. With several of the larger button i placed another button on top and sewed through both buttons at the same time. Make sure to tie a knot after each button is secure, before moving on to sew the next one. 

From start to finish this took me about an hour. I may have finished it faster if Sienna wasn't enjoying picking out her buttons as much. You just loved looking at each button and picking out just the right one for her special headband. It was a sweet time spent together working on a project. I love moments like this making a memory and having a keepsake to remind us of out fun time creating together. 

I think this headband is my favorite, and the easiest to make. So try it! Let me know how yours turns out. 

Craft: Sweet Flowers Headband

Sweet Flowers Headband

This head band was super easy to make. And i think it turned out super cute and girly, the way all head bands should be. 

What you Need:

Thick Ribbon (Mine is Red)

Any solid Fabric

Puff Paint

Glitter (extra fine if you have it)

Puff Paint

Buttons

Needle and thread

Cut fabric into different size circles. Don't make them perfect, i cut mine free hand. They have more character if you just cut them by hand. I did three roses I used three circles of fabric for the large on and two circle for each small one. So & circles all together. Lay out circles and use puff paint to line the edges. Sprinkle with glitter while the paint is still wet, then let dry. Once dry you can get started on putting it all together. Start with your largest circle and then stack two more smaller circles on top. The using a button sew threw all three layers of fabric until secure. Now you have one rose. Now you can put together the smaller roses. Once you have your sweet flowers made you just sew them onto the ribbon of your choice. Making sure it is the right length for your child's head. I also embellished with two extra buttons on the sides to give it a finished look. 

My daughter  loves this and can't wait to wear it to school. Try making one for your sweet girl and let me know how it turns out :)

 

Craft: Fun Times making Head Bands

My Little Crafter

For some reason I get really crafty during the Autumn months. I guess there's just something about cool days and staying inside that makes me want to make things. And now that Sienna is getting older she can help and enjoy doing crafts. So we started the Craft Season with some cute head bands. I didn't go out and spend money on any of the supplies. I just went through all my craft stuff and got creative with what i had. So sit down and get to crafting because  you have no reason not to. 

I just got some fabric, beads, ribbon, glue, puff paint and buttons to make some really cute and stylish head bands for my little girl. After making these for Sienna I want to make some for me! hehe!

Sienna got to make two of her own. I used colored fabric clue and gave her beads that she could put on any way she wished. They turned out cute and she loved them. There is no right or wrong when it comes to crafting with your kiddo's. As long as Sienna liked them, that's all that matters, because she's the one going to wear them. Because her's used glue they hadn't finished drying in time for me to photograph her wearing them. Keep an eye out for some more posts about the ones i made. They turned out super cute!

Five Guys

This weekend Daniel and I went on a date to Five Guys and to coffee. Might not sounds super romantic, but it was just our style. And it didn't matter where he took me i just wanted some alone time with my hubby. 

Fiveguys

I want one right now

Let me tell you something about Five Guys burgers! OMG they are fantastic. I guess they are the "it" thing on the east coast but we don't have any out here in CA, well until now. We have a location not far from us and everyone we know have been raving about it. So we thought we needed to try it, to see what all the hype was about. And it exceeded the hype. 

Being the true Californians that we are we have always been loyal to our In N Out burgers, so we were a little skeptical about how good these burgers really were. I have to say they were the BEST burgers I have ever eaten. Sorry In N Out :( I was shocked that i could even think that, but it was true. They were juicy, flavorful and I loved that you got to chose what went on it, also that they had grilled onions and grilled mushrooms, two of my favorite things. I couldn't believe how fast i ate it and that i want another one! They were just that good! The bun was soft but not mushy and the burgers were cooked to perfection. They tasted like the best burger that you could make at home with the finest ingredient you could find. I was shocked it was at a fast food place with peanut shells on the floor, you would have thought it came from some sit down restaurant. 

So Five Guys you have won my heart and are my favorite burger place. However i can get two burgers at In N Out for the price of just one of yours. So i think I will be eating at Five Guys every now and then, but still be eating my In N Out burgers on a regular bases. 

Photo of the Day: Sweet Laughter

Sweet Laughter

Eli is a happy happy boy and he loves his grandma Lorie. My mom has been close to both my children since birth and they adore her. I took this while documenting my nieces birthday and just fell in love with Eli's face and how much he is enjoying kisses from his grandma. It's so sweet! You can almost hear him giggling. He's got the best little laugh ever, you have to hear it. You would just melt it's so cute. 

I was very close with my grandfather and miss him so very much. I am thankful that my children have wonderful grandparents to love and to love them. This is a photo to remember.

Eli, you are deeply loved by your grandma, don't you ever forget it!

Happy 11th Birthday Kaitlin

The Beautiful Birthday Girl

I love being an aunt and i have been close to my nieces and nephews since they were born. And i love celebrating their  birthdays. On Saturday the whole family celebrated Kaitlin's 11th birthday. I don't know how that is even possible. I was 15 when she was born and remember the day very clearly. I had a modeling audition in LA and i was so annoyed that we had to hang out at a hospital. Teenagers are silly! Little did i know how in love i would be with this precious beautiful girl. She is amazing, sweet and kind and loves the Lord with all her heart. 

So both sides of Kaitlin's family came together to celebrate and shower her with love. Dawn and Steve BBQed and we all just kicked back and hung out. It was fun having babies in the house. Both Eli and Jacob and moving around and making their presence known. It was a fun time and full of family, fun and love.

Kaitlin, i hope you know how deeply i care for you and how much i love you. You are growing up to be a lovely young lady. I hope and pray that we will stay close and I look forward to seeing what God has planned for you! 

I am not Afraid, To take stand....

Not Afraid

I'm not afraid, to take a stand, everybody can take my hand, we'll walk this road together through the storm, whatever weather cold of warm just let you know your not alone. -Not Afraid by Gary Ward

I found this on twitter a few days ago. This song was performed live at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, NV on August 22, 2010 by G-Blest (Gary Ward). He took the song arrangement by the artist "Eminem" and re-wrote the lyric as his personal testimony.

This song brought tears to my eyes and gave me goose bumps. So much of the song touched my heart and reminded me of my childhood. This guy has amazing talent and he is using it to tell Christ story to the world. God gave him a gift and he is using it! That's what we should all be doing. I have been challenged by this video! I want to take a stand for my God and continue to share the Good News with more people using my talents. 

I haven't be able to find the lyrics to have them typed out for you. But PLEASE take a minute to watch the video and listen to the words. Wow, is all i can say. Let me know what you think!