Being Crafty for a MEANIE

First, a couple of pics of Chloe in the bluebonnets in my front yard. I noticed today that there is a large area in my tree ring of smashed flowers. Looks like someone plopped right down in them. I really hope that no one sat there to get a quick pic because that would be just plain rude. Enjoy them as you drive or walk by--with your eyes. Please save the smooshing for the side of the highway!




I kept saying "Chloe LOOK at me and say cheese". She kept saying cheese over and over again then finally said "I can't look at you cause the sun is in my eyes!". OK, fine.



On Friday, instead of cleaning or going grocery shopping, I found this website that gives detailed instructions on how to make lots of cute bows and simple dresses. I spent a couple of hours looking at each item and reading all the steps. Then I decided that I could do this! I headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few things. Who knew that picking out ribbon and a few other small things could take 2 hours? Me either!



First on the list, a tutu made from tulle. Super cute, super cheap and super fluffy! Success!


Second on the list, a Tinkerbell bow to match the Tinkerbell dresses I made for Madi and Chloe. I have to say that I believe my bow was a success as well. I have never made a bow before and it really wasn't too hard and I think it turned out just perfect!!

Here is the bow with the smocked Tinkerbell dresses.

I still have a couple of bandana dresses that I am going to attempt. They seem super easy as well.

Okay, now to the meanie part. Yesterday while I was cooking dinner Chloe was in the backyard playing. I noticed her near my bluebonnets. She had picked 2 or 3 (when they were first starting to bloom) before they were fully bloomed and I thought she understood they were to look at, not to pick. I told her from the doorway to get away. I noticed that she had a flower in her hand. I walked out and found this:

lots of little blue petals. :(

Then, closer to the plants I found this:

Two flowers prematurely plucked :(

I was upset. I told her that I was sad that she was ruining my bluebonnets. So what did the little fart do? Instead of crying and apologizing because she had hurt my feelings----she did this:

Stomped right on a flower in full bloom. Sometimes she can truly be a little monster. Oh well, I guess it is only a flower and I guess more will grow, but seriously!!

Bird Brains

At the top of our living room we have two large windows. On occassion a bird will fly right into one of the windows. If you are sitting in the living room it is sure to scare the crap out of you. It sounds like a gun shot. Lots of times we will go outside to find a bird flopping around in the grass trying to collect his marbles. Note the grease spots on the window where birds have plowed into it. The one on the left is wing span and all. The only reason I can think that they fly into it is that it reflects the pine trees from behind our fence. We have not cleaned those windows for quite some time thinking that it might help, apparently it hasn't :(
This is the 2nd dove 2 days in a row that never knew what hit him. Kind of sad. This one was so pretty.
Anyone have any suggestions to help out with this problem?

Bird Dinner and Egg Flowers

Last weekend MeMaw came for a visit. We enjoyed hanging out with her and Uncle Patrick. When MeMaw left on Sunday we decided we would get the bird feeder and clean out the old funky food from last year. After clean up we headed to Lowes to pick up some new bird seed. I was happy this evening to see a handful of tiny birds on the feeder as well as a Blue Jay and a Cardinal eating off the ground!

Chloe loves to put the food in by herself.

Open for business!


While at Lowes I spotted this cute egg that grows a flower (this particular one an impatien). I thought this would be fun for Chloe. Everyday we give it a little bit of water and everyday she says "nope, no flower yet". The package said it should grow between 7-10 days. So far it has been 4 days. I'll keep you posted on the egg flower.

Are your screens boring??

Have NO fear, with the help of Chloe Grace, your screens can be this fabulous too :) Note the blue line on each brick below the window.

While B and I ate dinner Chloe played in the backyard by herself. She told me she wasn't hungry so I let her play. We sat and watched her through the windows. It started out innocent---a little on the patio, then the brick window sill, then the screen, then the swing and swingset, then herself. She told me that was her sunblock for summer. Amazing the info they retain!

Early Bloomers.......For ALL to see!!

In 2007, while on a quick trip to Lowes, I got a packet of Bluebonnet seeds. I decided that I would try to grow them in the landscaping in the backyard. I believe that I planted at the beginning of April. After being told that you can't grow bluebonnets in a flowerbed, I was so excited when a flower bloomed in June, way past season!

I think there were only a handful of blooms that year. I couldn't wait to see what I was going to get in 2008, if anything.


To my surprise, not only did they come back, they came back bigger and prettier with lots of blooms!! I held on to the greenery long after the flowers seeded and replanted themselves. Brandon finally pulled them up because they were looking pretty bad. I was afraid that they would not come back in 2009 but at the time I had an infant to care for and that was all I was concerned about.
So Spring of 2009 rolled around and out popped a crop of Bluebonnets! There were not as many as 2008 but they were so pretty!

Spring of 2010 for sure had the best crop! They spanned the whole front of the bed and made a ton of blooms.


At the end of the season I mentioned to Brandon that I wanted to try and harvest the seeds and plant them around the trees in the front yard. That way if they grew, everyone in and out of the neighborhood could enjoy them as much as we do. Since we live at the edge of the neighborhood there is a lot of traffic beside our house. We, mostly Brandon, must have cracked open hundreds of seed pods, each containing 5-7 seeds. I am sure there were close to a thousand seeds when it was all said and done. Brandon trenched around a tree in the front yard and scattered the seeds. He insisted that if I wanted the rest planted, I needed to do it. So I did it just like he told me to. I was very surprised that foliage started to grow in the winter. In January it really started to grow like crazy. I guess the mild temps helped out. Near the middle of January I couldn't believe there were flower buds forming. By the end of January there were several blooms!

Then there was a crazy snap of freezing temps. All the flowers died and the green looked pretty sad. I didn't even think to try and cover them. I had no idea if they would survive but I was keeping my fingers crossed. Needless to say now that the weather is back to mild, I have a whole new crop of blooms popping up! I snapped this picture last week. Unfortunately the seeds that Brandon planted did not produce :(. I guess I will try to harvest seeds from the batch to plant again in the area where Brandon planted last year.