New ideas

I've always thought as an adult I am not nearly as creative as I used to be as a child.  Then sometimes the creativity just flows.  This past week has been one of those times.  Here's a couple ideas I have come up to be crafty and have fun.

Idea #1:  I get the biggest satisfaction out of packing sack lunches for the family when we're on the go.  It's fun trying to figure out ways to fit all four food groups into a sack lunch and then pack them and put everyone's names on the bag.  Of course not everyone likes the same things, so each bag is different.  I feel like June Cleaver when I do things like this.  One day it dawned on me that we should have our own personalized, reusable lunch sacks just to save on waste and make things a little more fun.  Thus, a new sewing project has begun.  I also want to make reusable sandwhich wraps and snack bags to stuff them with.  I love doing anything that is considered going green and cuts down on waste.  I am using these two tutorials: 

http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/ss/lunchsack.htm
http://www.greenphonebooth.com/2009/12/how-to-make-reusable-sandwich-wrapsnack.html

Idea #2  Do you ever think of things that you'd like, and then when someone asks you what you want for your birthday or Christmas, you can't remember what it is?  Or....someone tells you something they'd like to have some day, and then you can't remember what it is when their birthday or Christmas rolls around?  Or.....you think of a good gift idea for someone, and then when their birthday....you get my drift.  I want to make big present that I can hang on a closet door, maybe made of fabric.  It will have pockets for each family member attached to it.  When someone thinks of something or hears an idea, they write it down and put it in the pocket for the appropriate family member.  Come birthdays or Christmas time, you take out the ideas and go shopping.  Of course, there is a certain trust factor involved here.  You can't ever take ideas out of your own pocket, or you might know what someone else has been thinking of getting you. You can, however, add ideas to your own pocket.

Idea #3 I am AWFUL at remembering birthdays or getting cards out on time.  Jeff has requested I get better at this. I wish I was better at this; it bothers me that I'm not.  Since this is so difficult for me, I decided maybe Kadyn and I should sit down one day and make a cards for everyone's birthdays all in the same day.  Then mark the date on the outside of the envelope as to when it should be sent and put postage on it.  Store them in a container organized by month, set a reminder for each birthday in my email account, and then the only thing I have to do for the entire year is walk it to the mail box on the appropriate date.

Idea #4  This one really isn't my idea, but something I want to do.  I have seen those easy to make tutorials for crayon pouches and never seen a need for one until recently.  Those tiny cardboard boxes that the crayons come in start looking pretty beat up after being carried around in the diaper bag for awhile.  Therefore, I may be making one of those in my near future. 

Anyhow, my plate is beginning to fill up with crafty ideas for the summer.  I'm so excited to be getting back into the swing of things in this department.  It has been awhile since I have been able to devote much time to it.  Brennan has been very demanding with all the sickness, teething issues, and ear infections (which she has again we just found out, grrrr).  However, she is either getting better at dealing with the pain, or just all around not noticing it much because she seems better at entertaining herself and less clingy.  Therefore, this Mama can feed her own soul for a little while.  I'm looking forward to it!

Top five things

Just for fun, I thought I'd do a little list.  So many of my blogger friends are into to this,x and I think they're neat.  Here's mine.

Top five ten (who can pick just 5, really) things that are the best about being a Mom:

10. Seeing little parts of you in your children
9. Making them giggle....I mean belly laugh
8.  Getting to witness every development
7.  Knowing you are their hero (for the first 10 years at least)
6.  Sweet kisses baby kisses no matter how slobbery    
5. Snuggling in bed together on an early Saturday morning
4. Watching them open up presents on Christmas morning
3. The funny things they say
2. Chubby armed, squishy hugs
1. Listening to them say, "I love you Mama" when it's completely random