Featuring Owlhaven!

Mary Ostyn at Owlhaven is a wonderful woman that I aspire to be more like, she blogs about family, saving money, homeshooling, cooking, adoption, etc. all while raising 10 kids, 2 are out of the home and married now but we all know how much more we talk to our moms after we get married.

I could tell you about some of her wonderful posts, like the one on babies and sleep or her recipes, or the how she is preparing her teen boys to be ready for life on their own but it's too hard for me to pick one because then I feel like I'm leaving out others  that are just as wonderful.  Check her out, I promise that you won't be disappointed.

The Tooth Fairy Cometh

So the other day I saw this really cute post on 10 tooth fairy traditions and I thought, "too bad that I'm still a year or so away from that, these are so cute and fun."  Well, later that afternoon my DS showed me his loose tooth, so I thought I'd share that post along with a few other cute ideas I found.

The picture on top is for tooth fairy pouches by Ashley at Make It and Love It

Another Tooth Fairy Pouch from Shannon at Sew, Mama, Sew

And a Tooth Fairy Certificate by Jennifer at Tip Junkie

A Brush up on Grammar

photo by Richella at Imparting Grace

My grammar is pretty decent but it's amazing all the things you forget from school over the years and all the things you didn't really learn well in the first place so I thought I'd share Richella's Grammar Lessons from her blog Imparting Grace, they are 28 of some of the most commonly made mistakes and if you are looking for more the books under the hat are great and a couple are even quite funny.

Featuring Sew Mama Sew!

is a fabulous blog/ shop/ forum run by 5 fabulous ladies and their tutorials have seriously increased my sewing capabilities, from batting to zippers these gals have a tutorial for any of you beginning seamstresses that want a more finished, professional look to your projects.

Check them out HERE.

Awesome Ric Rac Tutorials

Ucreate has a great list of tutorials from clothing to gifts and more using Ric Rac so I just had to share it.  What's your favorite way to use ric rac?

Featuring Huppie Mama

I've decided that Fridays are going to be my "Feature Fridays" now instead of fashion because I follow over 200 blogs for one reason or another and I wanted you guys to see just how great some of these blogs really are.

I met Carrie about two years through my Etsy shop and I've loved following her blog ever since, she really focuses on her journey as a "huppie" mom, trying to keep things natural while enjoying the conveniences of modern life as well, basically a mom after my own heart.  Here is her definition of a Huppie Mama:  As a new mom, I've begun to explore a variety of eco-friendly, traditional baby products. Sometimes my sister calls me a 'hippie' because of the earth-friendly, back-to-basics nature of these products, and sometimes she calls me a 'yuppie' because of the level of research I do and the extra few dollars I'm willing to spend to buy something special for my family. So what does that make me? A well-educated, earth-friendly mama - a huppie!  -from March 2010 "Huppie Mamma"

I loved her post on "I Know if You Breastfed" because that's pretty much how most of us breastfeeding moms feel, like when my SIL gave my other SIL and me a hard time about the fact that our 11 month olds were still "so dependent" on us and how she could never have done it, she used to give the excuse that her babies were allergic to her milk but we all knew that she really just had no desire to breastfeed, and that's okay.

Her sister site "Busy Lil Hands" also has great posts on teaching our toddlers.

Bad Grammar Therapy Anyone?

My sister knows me well and shared this hilarious post about how a fellow blogger copes with bad grammar, now I'm a lover of the Alot as well.

The Alot is Better Than You at Everything @ Hyperbole and a Half

Awesome Photography Tutorials!

So Lindsay over at Shrimp Salad Circus put together an awesome list of photography tutorials that I just had to share.

And what else could it be called but...

via guggenheim and edited by shrimp salad circus

Right now she has 12 great links for tutorials on everything from portraits to great beginner tips, so what are you waiting for click on the link and get your cute butt over there right now.

Rainy Day

I love the color trend of gray and yellow but I especially like it when you add aqua or teal, it really makes all the colors come alive.

Rainy Day by pvdela featuring oversized clutch handbags

Pleated dress
$42 - shopruche.com

Yellow trench coat
£35 - m-butterfly.co.uk

Cole haan shoes
$178 - neimanmarcus.com

ASOS oversized clutch handbag
$36 - asos.com

Diamond jewelry
portero.com

Forever 21 belt
$3.50 - forever21.com

Kids Are Like a Magnifying Glass

This has been coming up for me a lot lately in one form or another so I thought I'd share something that I wish someone had told me before I had kids.  Kids are like having a BIG FAT magnifying glass on the world, your life and especially your relationship with your significant other!!!!!!!

All of us parents see the world differently once we bring that little bundle of joy home, colors are brighter, new dangers seem to creep up all over the place, the simple act of folding clothes can turn into tug of war or dress up with one little tug, many of your favorite hobbies get forgotten or at least put aside to make room for lots of peek-a-boo, sticky fingers and preschool shows played over and over until you start dreaming about them.  These changes I expected for the most part, I knew that I'd be setting aside a lot of things for these formative years with my kids and I was excited to do it because I knew all the joys that would replace them, what I hadn't expected was the effect it would have on my marriage, where our relationship was already good it became WONDERFUL, I can't even describe how amazing it felt to watch my husband hold our tiny baby boy and look at him with such pride and love and where it wasn't so great it got frustrating if not down right miserable like how hurt I felt when I realized that his expectations of what his job as a father were compared to mine and that my son liked his uncle better than his dad that first year.  (Things are great now though)

Looking back I could have avoided a lot of problems if someone had only told me this secret, my life felt a little like a roller coaster until I figured it out and then my DH and I were able adjust and now life is so much better than it was before kids, it is never boring with them around and they teach me every day, if DH was up for it I think I'd have ten of them, maybe more.  I greet them as they get up in the morning with a big smile and an enthusiastic "IT'S MY ...!!!!" not because I'm always feeling that awake and cheery but because they make every day interesting and I want to make sure that they know that I'm always excited to be with them and that to me being their mom is is the greatest privilege.

It just doesn't get better than this.

What I Wore Wed.

I actually wore this with my carnelian necklace and a pair of bright red orange ballet flats

 and the tights were actually gray leggings from target and the dress is one from last spring with the same cut and color except that is has a pattern to it.

My color philosophy for fashion is that I try to always have one color that is a "nearly neutral" The pop of color might be the main color or just an accessory and I might have more colors than three but that is the basic formula I tend to go by.

New Look - from H&M

http://www.hm.com/us/s/02H9VH

Products in this look:

Cable-knit Tights, Dress, Necklacewww.hm.com

Green Soup For My SIL

My SIL got a Vitamix for Christmas and is supper excited to start making great healthy "raw" meals for her kids and this recipe is her request.

 I first started making this back when I was single with my roommate, I found a recipe and found it so delicious, fast and easy to make that it immediately became one of our favorites.  I'm showing it in my Vitamix but you can make it in a pot and use an immersion blender just as well. 


1- You'll need:  Chicken or veggie soup stock, 2-4 greens, garlic, pepper.  For the greens I used celery, a green butter lettuce and spinach but I've used collard greens, romaine, cabbage and iceberg, so use whatever you like.

If using a Vitamix heat up the stock before starting to speed things up then throw everything in the blender to taste and blend away til nice and smooth.  If you are using a pot and immersion blender then just throw everything  in the pot at once and heat up until the greens have wilted and it's steamy then blend.

For the garnish or topping you'll need sour cream, cilantro and garlic, I cheated and used pre-chopped cilantro in a tube and garlic powder because I forgot that I was out of fresh garlic and I love the tubed herbs for convenience.

If you use the powdered garlic this will taste much better if you make it ahead of time.

I know it doesn't look as pretty but I prefer lots of little dots of the sour cream rather than one big one in the middle because it's easier for me to eat it that way but either way you'll want a little bit of the sour cream mix with every spoonful of soup.

This makes a great meal with sandwiches and my kids love it, here are pictures of my two youngest, they practically drank theirs and I really did drink mine.

Enjoy.