Who Am I?

So Thankful...

for these two kiddos and my husband! I love these three so much! For Mother's Day they brought me breakfast in bed and each made me a card. It was so sweet. We spent the day at my in-laws. It was a lot of fun as the whole Strunk clan was there and I mean everyone was there. All the great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It took Benjamin and Ada just a few minutes to warm up to all the cousins but once they did it was hard getting them away! There was so much food that no one went away hungry. We were able to play outside as the weather was so nice. We had a great time and two very sleepy kids. Each one was a sleep a few miles from my in-laws house and slept the whole way home. Once home we watched a movie and had a picnic in the living room. It was a perfect day--despite the cold that each (all) of us have.

Movie Star...

Isn't she the cutest little movie star that you have ever seen? Ada never seems to amaze us. She is growing up into a sweet little girl. She loves to sing, dance, play with her babies, wear all types of shoes and hats. She even loves wearing her sunglasses and getting dressed. She is started to get into "girly" things and I am so excited! I can't wait to paint her nails and do her hair. Every once in a while she will let me put in some hair pretties but lately I have heard "stop it" and "that hurts me" or "No". She is very articulate when she speaks so there is no denying what she is saying and what she wants.

Enjoying Grandma's Cookies...

I'm Addicted...

to freezer paper stenciling! I made these cute onesies for baby gifts. Once you start you will want to stencil everything within sight. It is so easy and so much fun! I also made Benjamin and Ada each a monkey shirt. Ever since Ada got her Yo Gabba, Gabba! t-shirt, Benjamin has been looking for one. Well, we have been unable to find him a shirt so I made one for him . He loves it!

So now that I have your interest, how do you do it? Get some freezer paper (found in the same section as wax paper, aluminum foil, etc) and a pencil and draw (trace) your design on the papery side of the freezer paper. Do not draw on the waxy side. After you have your design drawn you need to cut it out with an exacto knife or something very sharp. Make sure and use your self healing mat (if you don't have one just cut your design out on top of phone books, magazines, etc.) so you don't ruin your table or counter top. Once you have your stencil ready to go (design cut out), set out your ironing board, warm your iron, and select your t-shirt or article of clothing that you will iron your design on. Iron your design (waxy side down) on your article of choice. Also, iron a piece of freezer paper on the inside of your clothing item so the item makes a sandwich. This prevents your paint for bleeding through. For best results use fabric paint and follow the fabric paint's recommendations, for example, you may have to iron over your design after it is painted to set it. When painting your design becareful not to get too much paint near the edge or it could leak through. After painting, allow your item to dry according to paint recommendations. Once dry, just peel off the freezer paper and you are good to go. What you will find is some super cute t-shirts, onesies, (the list could go on and on), etc.

Homemade Burpcloths...

By now all the baby gift recipients should have received their packages so I can share with you what have been up to. This is a picture of the burpcloths that I made. I tried to make it peanut-shaped (maybe not peanut-shaped, just not square/rectangular). I cut out two pieces of fabric (I used flannel) and one piece of batting. All the same size. I then sewed them together like a sandwich around the outside and down the middle. Next, I cut out the batting close to the line of stitching being careful not to snip through the stitching. Then, I clipped both pieces of flannel all the way around the burpcloth to make fringe. To get the frayed finish, wash the burpcloth 2-3 times and they dry it. I think the burpcloths turned out pretty cute!

Little Gardener...

Benjamin and Ada enjoyed helping me outside. We were busy taking out debris from our flower beds, garden, etc. Benjamin was great at spotting "yucky weeds" (thistles and dandelions). Ada found her niche watering the flowers. Ada made sure any flower that she saw received a water can full of water. She was not at all concerned about over watering. I have two budding little gardeners on my hands. Benjamin's radishes have germinated and have started to grow and he is so excited. Both he and Ada will kneel down by the radishes and just look at them (watching them grow). Sometimes I just wonder what goes on in their little heads.