Tuesday, July 31, 2012

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

As you probably know, this past week we were on vacation.  Because we live so far apart, my parents, sister (and family) and I don't get to see a lot of each other - twice a year max.  So we took a little time off work, rounded up the wee ones, and met in the middle.  "The middle" just happens to be Ogden, Utah, where we rented a cabin and hit the museums.  I feel so blessed to have had this special time with my amazing family - and the kids had a blast playing on the swing-sets, looking at dinosaurs, browsing the museums and enjoying the much cooler air.  Here are some highlights from the trip! 

 Baby L really likes basketball
 They were so thrilled to be able to play outside
 Petting zoo!
 Feeding the goats
 Baby L was afraid of the chickens
 Sitting on the tractor
 Petting the potbelly pigs (they're bristly!)
 Taking a horseback ride
 More fun on the cabin's playground
 Goofing off at Dino Park


 Looks like only one of us is paying attention to the right thing...

 Treehouse museum

 Grandpa teaching L how to drum
 Musical girl! (yes, she chewed on a marker...)
 Baby L for president!
 Trying to get Excalibur out of the stone

 Swimming at the reservoir
 Cousins digging

 This wound up being a really cool castle
 All the cousins
Me with Mom and Dad

So, that was my trip in a nutshell.  Hope you all had a great week yourselves!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Saturday Shop Hop: Favorites

Welcome to another Saturday Shop Hop!  Last week's theme was Summer.


Here is one of the fabulous items that linked up! 






This week's theme:  Favorites



Link up your very favorite item from your shop! 


Next week I'll be choosing a couple of submissions to display!

Be sure to visit each other's shops, and if you have a spot on your blog, be sure to post our button!  The more we share the hop, the more visitors we all get :)  Thanks all!



Saturday Shop Hop



<div align="center"><a href="http://www.babystuffilove.blogspot.com/search/label/Saturday%20Shop%20Hop" title="Saturday Shop Hop"><img src="http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/mrscat206/SaturdayShopHop.jpg" alt="Saturday Shop Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>


Want to co-host a hop?  Email stuffilove.and.mimibaby@gmail.com!

Please note: by linking up you grant me permission to re-post your product photo in next week's hop.  If you wish to link up but do NOT wish to be featured, please email me or leave a note in the comments.  
 

Friday, July 27, 2012

Just Jessica

Hi Readers! I am Jessica from Just Jessica  and I am delighted to share with you today on Cat's blog.

 I wanted to share about my definition of love. I have been thinking about this topic a lot because of all the summer weddings that have taken place lately. I find myself dreaming about my wedding day and the day that I will walk down the isle to marry my one and only. While love and marriage are beautiful things I believe that there are two definitions to love: The world and Religion. 

I tend to favor the religious view of love seeing as I am a Christian. But I also see the view of the world. I don't think that the world is wrong in their definition., love is a feeling yes. The love you have for your spouse or your boyfriend or girlfriend is something deep and profound. But to me love is just not a feeling. Love is an action. 
I believe in the Bible and I believe that Jesus died on the cross. He died for my sins and for yours. God sent his ONLY son to die for all of our sins no matter if we believe in him or not. He sacrificed his son so that we could have LIFE. He payed all of our sins so that we wouldn't have to do it ourselves. I was listening to a song the other day that was talking about how great it was that God is was willing to send his son. Because as the song says, it should have been each and every one of us that went to that cross for our sins. But it did not happen that way. It happened just the way that God intended. 

Yes love is a feeling but love is also a profound action of selflessness. The love of the world is something that is fleeting and based on feeling. While the Love that comes when one believes in Jesus is something that is everlasting and solid.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Getting To Know You #5: Vacation


Welcome back to the Getting To Know You linky-party! Your co-hosts this week are

Cat from Stuff I Love
Ricki from Rogue Baby

Here's how it works:

1) Copy the questions below.
2) Fill them out - be creative, we want to see the real you.
3) Include some photos if you like.
4) Grab the button to share so everyone can link up.
5) Check out a few new people and make some friends!

I'm looking forward to getting to know you all!


Getting To Know You
<div align="center"><a href="http://babystuffilove.blogspot.com/search/label/Gettingtoknowyou" title="Getting To Know You"><img src="http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/mrscat206/Gettingtoknowyou150.jpg" alt="Getting To Know You" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Getting To Know You: Vacations

1) What has been your favorite vacation?
2) What was your most exotic vacation?
3) What was your worst vacation?
4) What is your craziest vacation story?
5) What is your dream vacation?
6) If you could vacation with any 3 celebrities, who would you take?
7) Who is/are your favorite people to vacation with?
8) What is the best gift that someone has brought you back from a vacation?
9) What kinds of vacations did you take as a kid?

My Answers:

1) What has been your favorite vacation?
So hard to choose!  I loved my trip 'home' after our first son was born.  We visited our alma mater, stopped by some historical sites, saw my family, and even took a trip up to the mountaintop where we got engaged!  Wasn't glamorous, but the memories are awesome.   Also, our honeymoon was great!  Visited some deep south plantations and stayed at super cute B&Bs.  Perfect!

Pilot Mountain - where we got engaged
Hanging out with the WashU bunny
Cousin playtime
Can't believe I made it all the way to the top!
Magnolia Plantation

More plantation
Harmony House B&B
 2) What was your most exotic vacation?
Technically, I've had two.  When I was 16 my sister took me along with her for a week in Perth, Australia.  And when I was 19 my parents took us to St. Lucia for Christmas.  Unfortunately, I don't have pics of either on my computer.

3) What was your worst vacation?
Um.  They've all had ups and downs.  I was homesick in London, ill in St. Lucia, exhausted in Australia, and I hate long drives.  But they have all been blessings as well. 

4) What is your craziest vacation story?
Nothing truly dramatic has come to mind.  I spent a month in London doing summer school at the Globe and I tried climbing to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral in flip-flops.  1) I almost lost my shoes 3 times and 2) I'm terrified of hights and almost passed out at the top :p
Hangin' with Paddington Bear

My acting teachers on the Globe stage
Richard III in our rehearsal space
5) What is your dream vacation?
Right now?  A resort somewhere without the kids.  Lots of lounging and swimming and fancy food.  Once I get past the toddler-induced-exhaustion, I'd love to take a tour of Great Britain sometime.

6) If you could vacation with any 3 celebrities, who would you take?
Woah.  That's tough.   How about anyone associated with the Whedonverse.  They seem like they'd be fun.
 
7) Who is/are your favorite people to vacation with?
My husband and his former roomates (and their respective wives).  We get together every New Years and occassionally in between and they are absolutely my favorite bunch of folks.  We had a great reunion in Vegas one summer (and I even got out to LA to visit some other friends)
Hubby and his good friend weren't quite ready for the pic
Laguna Beach!

My family are a probably a tie, but they are so far away it's hard to get together :(

8) What is the best gift that someone has brought you back from a vacation?
My dad brought me back dolls from all the countries he spent time in.  I kept them all and now my daughter has them.  


9) What kinds of vacations did you take as a kid?
We pretty much only went to our yearly family reunions.  But I have a HUGE group of cousins and they are all amazing people so I looked forward to it every year.  Don't get to see them much now and I miss them like crazy.
Love these guys!!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Measure Once Cut Twice



Hi there! My name is Hilary and I blog over at Measure Once, Cut Twice.  I'm honored to be guest posting on Stuff I Love today while Cat is away on vacation. If you visit my blog, you'll see that I'm pretty much obsessed with all things related to crafting.

I just opened up a new business called Measure Once, Cut Twice {The Shop}. It was created to help those crafters who don't have dye-cut machines {like a Silhouette or Cricut} bring their dreams to reality. We cut personalized images onto adhesive vinyl, card stock, or other specialty media for less than $.04 per sq. in.! Check it out here.

Today I'm going to show you some quick & easy ways to personalize children's school supplies using adhesive vinyl cut using a dye-cut machine.

{P.S. Stick with me, there is a little gift from me to you at the end of this post!}

Personalizing a spiral binder:


Tools
- Spiral binder
- X-ACTO knife
- Adhesive vinyl
- Transfer Paper
- Scraper tool (credit card works)
- Other decorative decals for personalization

Directions
1) Print the pattern you want using a dye-cut machine onto your choice of colored adhesive vinyl. 
2) Apply transfer paper to the vinyl and use the scraper to make sure the transfer paper is completely attached to the top of the vinyl. 
3) Carefully begin peeling off the vinyl. Use your scraper tool to guide the vinyl as it comes off. Make sure there are no pieces left behind!
4) Apply your vinyl to the top of the spiral binder.
5) Use an X-ACTO knife to cut off any extra pieces from the edges. 
6) Add other details. I added a piece of blue adhesive vinyl and a brown label so that I could label the binder with my name. 

Personalizing a clear front covered binder: 


Tools
- White copy paper
- Washi tape (multiple colors)
- Scissors
- X-ACTO knife
- Other decorative decals for personalization

Directions
1) Start by measuring out how wide your clear front covered binder is. Mine was a little bit wider than a standard 8.5" x 11" piece of copy paper, so I taped two pieces of paper together to make it wider. 
2) Once you know how much space you need to cover, start applying your Washi tape in any pattern you want. It would have been MUCH easier if I just ran lines across the whole piece of paper, but instead I chose to take this patchwork design on. Use your scissors and X-ACTO knife to keep your lines straight. 
3) After your whole piece of paper is covered in Washi tape, personalize it with your child's name or initials. I cut a circle, border and the letter "t" out using my dye-cut machine. I used a glue stick to attach the pieces together. You can use pre-made letter stickers, or ask me for some personalization of your own! 
4) Slide your piece of Washi covered paper into the clear front cover of the binder and you're done! 

Personalizing day planners & pencil boxes:


I found this day planner and pencil box at Target. The pencil box is from the dollar section and is supposed to hold money for a lemonade stand, but it works! 

All I did to decorate these items was print out some words on my dye-cut machine and applied them using transfer paper. 

Now for my present to you! 


My goal today was to inspire you to decorate plain ol' school supplies using adhesive vinyl. If you don'y have a dye-cut machine, this entire post usually would be totally pointless for you. NOT ANYMORE!! Come visit me over at Measure Once, Cut Twice {The Shop} and I'll print off any 12" x 12" sheet of vinyl you want for only $4.50 per sheet (or only $.03 per sq. inch!).

Not only can you get $5 off a $30 purchase through July 31st, but you'll get 10% off your first purchase AND you can use promo code: StuffILove to get an extra 10% off!! That makes it totally worth stopping by, right?

Thanks for getting through this extra long post today. Be sure to come back and visit Cat daily to keep up with her amazing blog!  Oh, and please stop by Measure Once, Cut Twice and say hi. I'd love to meet you :)


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