Trick or Treat!

I got something very sweet!

She told me this was her "pretty pose".

Check out her rock! ;)

I sure hope it takes a while before she finds her Prince Charming....

Happy Halloween!

Last Year in Wonderland

Thought I'd quickly share some pictures from last Halloween. We dressed up as a family and it was so fun! 

Sweet Pea was a spot on Alice!

I wasn't planning on dressing up our dog Jazmynn, but I saw this costume on clearance and couldn't resist!

Hubby was a last minute Mad Hatter. His costume consisted entirely of Dollar Tree items.

I was the Cheshire Cat. I love an excuse to break out the face paint!

I think we make a lovely couple ;)

I love Halloween and I'm bummed that it's just me and my girl this year. But at least I get a whole year to plan next year's family outing! Any suggestions?

Sweet Pea is going to look great again this year, I look forward to posting pictures tomorrow!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

No, no. I'm not alluding to the fact that I haven't blogged in forever and a day. However,  I'm sure my (maybe five?) dedicated readers have missed me a great deal. Hi, mom. 

My husband left for a "long trip" a few weeks ago. This has been in the works for a couple months prior to his leaving, so I've been prepping myself for quite awhile. He was all ready to go, then they cancelled everything. A few weeks later he got the green light again, and in less than a week it was cancelled again. Another week, and it was a for sure thing. After going through so many ups and downs it was almost a relief to know that we was, for sure, going to be gone for half a year. No, I am not happy about his leaving, but it's good have the plans laid out that I've been preparing for.

The first week was hard, just personally very difficult for several reasons that weren't necessarily caused by his absence, but definitely made worse because of it . Thankfully, I have a great support system of friends who encouraged me, several of whom have been through multiple separations like this. Not once did I hear "Suck it up, this is only your first time, and you only have one kid to deal with!" Encouragement and reassurance were gracefully bestowed upon me, and for those who gifted them I thank you wholeheartedly! I can't imagine what this is like for the third time around with several little ones to care for.

I can say that I'm slowly figuring out how to function on my own. Sweetpea and I are gradually getting into a routine, if you could call it that. They say to stay busy, it makes the time go by faster, and busy I am. School and work for me, plus shuttling little miss to school and activities leaves me just enough time to clean the house and microwave cook a meal. It isn't clockwork yet, but it should be fairly close (I hope) soon.

I intend to make crafting, work outs, and blogging part of my routine as well. I'm chock full of great intentions.

For now I am just appreciating the joys of fall, and missing my husband dearly.

Our Family
Fall 2010 © The Happy Yoga Mom

FREE Crochet Pattern Giveaway from The Lovely Crow!

If you are a crochet enthusiast you won't want to miss this!

If you are new to crocheting you won't want to miss it either!

Today only, get a FREE crochet pattern from The Lovely Crow!

 

My friend Elizabeth is the genius behind The Lovely Crow. She actually lives right down the street from me with her beautiful SIX children! She is the most talented person I know, hands down. She can draw, paint, sculpt, and she is an amazing crocheter. She not only creates the most adorable hats and booties, she also sells wonderful patterns on her Etsy store so you can make them too. Did I mention she has SIX kids!?

Check out the cuteness!



This is perfect for any girly girl





Why can't babies have cute galoshes too? Puddles optional.



This is just a small sample of her creations. Check out her Etsy store and be prepared to say "awwwww!"

She is being so generous and offering one of her great patterns for FREE! Completely free pattern that you get to choose. This is something you won't want to pass up, but hurry because the offer is only valid through today, September 20th!

Now is the hard question, which one to choose?!

Get all the details for your FREE crochet pattern here.

Check out The Lovely Crow on Etsy here.

Moss Monogram for $1 {Tutorial}

I'm working on a project and wanted to incorporate a monogram "C" for our last name. I love monograms and I super love moss monograms. Anything with an earthy edge and I am sold!

 Here is what I whipped up with materials I had on hand.

Supplies

Scrap Cardboard
Printout of Letter in Desired Size
Craft Moss
Scissors
Elmer's Glue
Hot Glue Gun

I found the moss at Dollar Tree. They tend to have a small variety in the floral and/or seasonal section. Thicker cardboard is better, but be sure you can cut through it. I wanted a somewhat smaller letter, but if you have a letter with lots of details bigger will be easier to cut out.

1. Cut out the letter and glue it to the cardboard with the Elmer's glue. Don't worry about perfection.
2.Cutout the cardboard letter.
3. Glue the cardboard letter onto the cardboard again and cut out. I did this to make it a little thicker and sturdier. You could skip this step if you are using sturdy stuff already, or if you have thin cardboard repeat it several times.

4. Working in sections, hot glue the moss to the cardboard letter. I glued onto the front area first then covered the edges. 

5. After covering the entire front and sides go back with scissors and clean up the wild moss. This really helps sculpt it into the desired shape. Try to trim out as many hot glue "threads" as you can too (as you can see below I forgot this step. oops).

Tada!

This took me about 20 minutes to complete, and that is including child-related distractions.
Super easy and super cheap since all I had to buy was the moss!

I'll post soon with my completed project that incorporates my monogram. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

I'm linking up to:



 

Tuesday Ten {Thrifty Finds}

Tuesday is my laid back day. No class or work for me, all I have to do is chauffeur Sweet Pea to school and dance class. I guess showering and cleaning are part of the day too, but I can procrastinate on those things, right? ;)

If you know anything about me you know I LOVE to hit up thrift stores. You can get anything and everything at    a thrift shop, I just takes some patience and a keen eye for treasure. I've found some pretty sweet stuff, and most of it for a steal. My friends always ask how I find such good stuff, and my answer is always the same: I go thrifting as often as I can! The more often you go, the more stuff you can find! 

So here are my ten favorite thrift finds!

10. Cherry Blossom Print

I was thrilled when I saw this for $2 since it goes perfectly in my Japanese themed kitchen.

9. Hardback Books

Super cheap and easy decor items.

8. Cowboy Boots

I probably shouldn't be too quick to brag about these since they aren't real leather (I don't think), but they are still comfy and cute.

7. Vintage Beer Bottles

Gotta love green glass.

6. Bamboo Bicycle

I just think this thing is cute, I may spray paint it a bright color in the future.

5. Mystery Box

I nicknamed this the "mystery box" because I'm not sure of it's purpose. The middle doors slide open, but it's not big enough to be a jewelry box. I love the little drawers though. Right now they hold mailbox keys and Aliyah's rock collections ;)

4. Nine West Denim Vest

The main reason I love this is because I got it NWT for less than  $1! The original price:  $78. Booyah.

3. Charming Cloche

Another less than $1 snag. 

2. Sweet Pea's Shoes

They just scream happy! I found this last spring  and immediately knew she would wear them on her first day of school!

1. Coach Clutch

Green patent leather and the perfect size to hold my essentials. Priced right at  98 cents.  ♥

I'm linking up to:

 

Never forget.

I was a freshman in high school ten years ago today. 

I would have never guessed that I would be where I am now.

A proud Air Force wife.

I believe that the loss of so many heroes on September 11, 2001 gave birth to a new generation of heroes.

 I know exactly what my husband is fighting for. 

Take time today to reflect on your freedom. Be sure to thank those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and for those who continue to fight. 

God bless America.

Graduation from Airman Leadership School, 2009

Recipe for Success?

Ingredients:

Document frame - $1 at Dollar Tree

Dry erase marker - 4/$1 at Dollar Tree

Printable found via Pinterest - Free

I stuck this to the fridge with Command picture hangers. They are essentially velcro so I can take it down to write on it, or move it to another room. You could also glue magnets to the frame, I just used what I had on hand. My hope is that this will actually get used. Too often I buy a fancy day planner that ends up forgotten after a few weeks. 

I've never been a routine kind of gal. The few times that I've willed myself into a schedule of sorts it never lasted more than a month, at the very longest. But I find that when I do have a little routine everything seems to go smoother (shocking eh?) Every thing is simple and enjoy the little things more. I am in a constant struggle to make myself more organized, more punctual, more of who I want to be. I realize that I will never be "that" mom who has their children's day planned to the minute, nor do I want to be. I just want to enjoy my family, chase all my dreams, and have an immaculate house. Is that too much for a girl to ask? I think so. 

Won't keep me from trying though ;).

First Day of School

Aliyah started PreK today! I'm so excited for her to learn new things and have new experiences.

Shirt - Old Navy, thrifted
Skirt - Children's Place
Socks - Dollar Tree
Shoes - Thrifted

Love you Sweet Pea!

Edit: This is the 100th post! Woot!

Missing Hubby & Awkward and Awesome Thursday.

I've kept hubby's mess around this week. Should probably clean it before he comes home tomorrow :)

Doing my first A & A Thursday! If you don't read this blog, you should. 

Awkward:
- Using the phrase "I guess I attract balls" whilst trying to explain to my neighbor that my garage is full of random soccer and kick balls that don't belong to Aliyah. They end up stranded at my back door or appear randomly on the front porch, I guess kids forget about them and the wind blows them our way? The conversation stopped dead and I retreated inside.
- Opening the large library door into an old(er) lady when leaving Storytime. To be fair, she was standing there talking on her phone, and the door has no glass to see the other side.
- Unintentionally choosing a spot at the ballet barre next to some one with mad skillz. Come on old lady legs, kick higher!

Awesome:
- Receiving over $100 worth of rebates in the mail! Woo hoo for actually sending some in for once!
- Aliyah's "first day" of school yesterday. I don't really count it because it's a staggered entrance thing, so her real first day is Tuesday. Prepare for a photo dump!
- Getting a wedding invitation from an old friend whom I was just thinking about earlier that day. It's crazy how things like that work :)

Happy September!

Visiting a friend.

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that I'm guest posting at The Wandering Wicopy today!

Tuesday Ten {Printables}

I heart Pinterest. It is a great way for me to organize and bookmark all the fantastic things I come across. Right now I'm all about printables, I just think they are really fun. I have a scheme for using a bunch of printables in one place, but more on that later. Right now here are ten of my favorite printables at the moment (there are a lot of back to school ideas):

I'm linking up to: