xoxo

Love is in the air and also can be found @ my house. We are busy getting ready for Valentine's Day.

After searching for valentine decor for my front door and finding nothing that was a right fit, I decided to make my own. $4 later I was glad I did!

I started with 1/2 a yard of red burlap ($1.50)

recycled wal-mart sack (free)

hot glue gun (already had)

roll of ribbon & ( $1.50)

A little bit of black paint ($1)

I cut my red burlap into a heart shape just like I would a piece of construction paper. I used the red burlap for the front of my heart and I used left over brown for the back of my heart.

I glued my 2 heart pieces together with the hot glue gun leaving a section open to put in my stuffing.

In the past I have used a thick paper (that you would wrap breakables in) for my stuffing but I was out so I used recycled Wal-Mart sacks.

I stuffed the heart and fluffed and shook it to get it to take on the shape I wanted. I then glued my opening shut.

I then went back and painted the edges with paint to look like stitches.

I glued on fun ribbon as a hanger and then stuck it on my door.

I even had a little material left over so while my mess was out I made a little one as well.

Overall for both hearts it took no more than 20 minutes to make.

My favorite things about this craft was that it was cheap, quick, easy and it really stands out on my door!

making the most of it

Scotty has tons of great things about him, his knees however are not 2 of them. 5 surgeries down & he is still hanging in there!

He was referred to a Dr. in Owensboro & we hated leaving the boys for 2 nights so we came up with a plan and decided to make the most of it. Scotty is such a good sport even in PAIN! He even had theme music getting him pumped up before he went to surgery.

We wrangled in NeNe (leandra) to watch the boys at the hotel while we were @ the hospital and you would have thought we were going on the greatest vacation ever! Kase was beyond excited about NeNe going with him to a hotel to swim.

of course we fit in a trip to Target

We came back to the the hotel with Scotty's bed decorated with get well cards from the boys (with NeNe's help of course.)

Their hugs made him feel so much better!

a birthday to bowl for

We couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my Grandmothers birthday than dinner & bowling.

One of our favorite Grandmother stories is of her taking us bowling when we were little and it ended up being memorable for all the wrong reasons. I would love to share the memory but she would kill me! But if you know her then you know that is of course funny!

So we put on our stylish shoes and got down to business.
(knox was so cute in his tiny little shoes)

Boys on one side & girls on the other

Let the games begin

Kase waited so patiently for his turn, which was really hard for an excited 4 yr. old

Dad shared his techniques with Knox. But Knox is as independent as my Dad so it was an interesting interaction all night.

After a determined little Knox packed his ball up there, rolled it & then chased after it into the slick lane and took a big fall Dad decided to hold on to him. Of course this cramped Knox's style but they came to an agreement.

Sometimes bowling can be more about the snacks

We had a wonderful time celebrating an amazing woman that we all look up to respect, and love! Happy Birthday Grandmother!

2nd Glance Saturday: Join in it's your turn!

Ideas, crafts, pictures, and must have items are things I love seeing and hearing about from others. Of course this is the main reason I love Pinterest!

Another great way to share these fun things are through link parties and you might find some new blogs to follow along the way.

I not only think this link party is worth taking a 2nd Glance but also worth joining in!
If you are not familiar with link parties well then it is time to get started and learn something new.

(If you are reading this and it is past Saturday don't worry you can still link up, I am leaving it open all week. So you are not too late to join in.)

For Non-bloggers:

First of all this is a great time to start blogging. It is free, easy and a great way to capture your memories. It makes me journal and kind of create a digital scrapbook for my family. I can not wait to print each year into a book to save and share with my boys.

If you don't blog but still want to join in on the link party there is another way.

Find the website of something that you think is worth taking a 2nd glance. For example an outfit, sign, vacation place, picture or whatever catches your eye.

Click on the add a link blue button at the bottom of this post
Copy and paste the website you want to share and paste it in the url box.

Write your name or a title for what your are sharing in the name box.

Last check out what other people have shared through their links by clicking on other links listed below.

For New bloggers

(or those who have gotten behind or just haven't made the time this is a great way to get back into it. You will be glad you did later!)

If you have a blog use a previous post or a new post about something that made you take a 2nd glance.

Grab my second glance button by coping the html code below and pasting it on your post

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.graeplace.blogspot.com" title="310 Grae Place"><img src="http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g345/bkelly8/realblogbutton.jpg" alt="310 Grae Place" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Once your post is ready click below on this page on the blue add a link button

Copy and paste your blog address into the url box

Then put in your name, your blogs name, or your posts name whichever you prefer in the name box.

Now you have joined the link party!! Others can click on your link and check out what made you take a 2nd glance.
The last step is to check out some of these links and if you like what you see follow a new blog, or leave a fun comment. I can't wait to see what is making you take a 2nd Glance!

minty fresh

What began as a normal night in the Kelly's all of sudden became craziness (which actually is our normal.)

Most kids love baths, well my 2 love showers. On this particular night my poor shower got the bad end of the deal.

When the laughter coming from the shower turned to a blood curdling scream we knew it wouldn't end well.

The smell of minty fresh met me at the door of my bedroom which was really the only good that came out of this craziness.

This is what I found...

Then I spot the culprit

Not only did the toothpaste make its way all over the shower, the glass, the ceiling and somehow on some cabinets but also into Kase's eyes which set him on fire. Hence the screaming!
In one of Beverly Clearly's book, Ramona dumps all of the toothpaste in the sink for fun. Her wise mother trying to teach her a lesson about not being wasteful scoops up all of the toothpaste and saves it in a bag for her to use.
So I stood there trying to make a decision on what to do next and wanting to make the wise choice but couldn't bring myself to scrape it up and save it. So to teach our "Ramona" a lesson Scotty and I decided that his eye burning like crazy was a pretty good one and to assign him to the low spots on the clean up crew.
Knox was determined not to be left out so why not dip his fork in candle wax and sling it around?

Just a normal night with 2 crazy boys that I wouldn't trade for anything!

2nd Glance Saturday: Great News

Wendy & Brandon's blog is worth taking a 2nd Glance at this week. So if you haven't heard their exciting news check it out!

(click below)

Now it is time for you to share something that made you take a 2nd glance. Just grab my 2nd glance button and post it with your blog. I can't wait to check it out!

(Click the link below and link up to share)

2nd Glance Saturday: Some new favorites

It's once again Saturday and time for things that have made me take a 2nd glance. There have been so many things with the holidays just ending but this week I am sticking with 2 basic things.

As Wendy and I were checking out @ Wal-mart the other day and trying to not lose a kid I spotted this random box of Marshmallow bits up by the register that clearly did not belong there.

(This is what Wal-Mart does to Knox)

Of course I wanted to try it and they had 2 flavors, vanilla and peppermint. I grabbed a bottle of both and let's just say the bottle did not last more than a day in my house.

I was one of those kids (well still am) that would eat all of the marshmallows out of the lucky charms. So it was a great surprise when this entire bottle was full of those marshmallows!! I don't think Kase has had lucky charms so when I was trying to explain what a jewel we had found he did not understand my excitement. Until he turned the bottle up and shook some out. He definitley gave it a 2nd glance and helped himself to way too many marshmallows. (Warning: they are addicting)

The 2nd new addiction in our house are Edy's real fruit juice popsicles. I know they are not new and we have bought them several times in the past but for some reason we are now addicted. Our family of 4 finished a box off in a couple of hours. There is no sugar added so that means eat as many as you want right? Well we do! So now when I give them a 2nd glance in the grocers aisle I also grab more than one box.

I encourage the boys to eat them in the tub, less clean up.

Both of these 2nd glances can be found @ Wal-Mart, and as much as we all dread going there we eventually end of up there anyways.

Happy New Years!