{Free Printable} Mother's Day Card

I've been saving this Mother's Day Card printable since June of last year!  It's adorable (and rated PG-13), and from the amazing Ambrosia Creative.  Go download it to tell your guy exactly what you want!

Mother's Day Wishes

Friends, I'll be brutally honest.  If I left my Mother's Day gift up to my husband, it's likely that I would never see a Mother's Day gift.  Or I'd see something like the $15 drug store steam cleaner that he bought me one year.  So I'm not at all subtle when it comes to what I want for Mother's Day, unless you think subtle is saying, "Honey, here's the link, here's a coupon, and here's my credit card."

This year, I'm gunning for this necklace.  My beautiful, stylish friend Heather was wearing it when I saw her a few weeks ago, and I shamelessly coveted it and wanted to call it my own.  I hope Michael picked up on the few (hundred) hints I dropped.

Are you looking for a Mother's Day gift?  Here are a few gifts that this Mom would love to receive.

PERSONALIZED ADDRESS STAMP

DESSERT PLATES FROM ANTHROPOLOGIE

URBAN OUTFITTERS STEREOLUXE AM/FM RADIO AND MP3 DOCK

A SCHWINN CRUISER

A DECAL FOR MY MAC

My favorite is this Totoro one.  I love Totoro.

A PRETTY IPHONE CASE

ANOTHER CUTE CAMERA BAG

And if money were no object....

A VINTAGE CAMPER

But honestly, the best gifts are the homemade ones.  Am I right?  This one was drawn by Charlotte.  She told me that it's what she's going to look like when she grows up.  That's some long hair, girl.

Happy {almost} Mother's Day!  

DIY: Freezer Paper Stencil Custom Shirt

Well.  Hey there.

Just popping in to show this cute and easy shirt I made for Gavin last weekend.  (Wish I could stay and chat longer, but my report cards are due.  It's that time of year!)

We had a Sing-a-Long birthday party for the twins on Sunday.  They're going to be five on Thursday.  FIVE!  In my head, I still picture this all of the time, and count my innumerable blessings:

Thankfully, they fattened up pretty fast those first weeks in the NICU, and there's no end in sight.  (For those new to this blog, you can read old posts dating back to the early days to get a glimpse of what life was like with preemie twins.)

Back to the shirt.  Since it was a sing-a-long theme, and since a talented friend of mine was singing her original children's songs to entertain the kids, I wanted Gavin to have a cool shirt to go with the theme of the day.

I started with a cheap navy t-shirt from Old Navy and this free stencil from the Acire Adventures blog.

I photocopied the stencil to scale it down a little and traced it onto the flat (not shiny) side of good ol' freezer paper.  Then I used an exacto knife to cut it out, placed it shiny-side down on the t-shirt, and ironed for about 30 seconds until the paper stuck to the shirt.  Please excuse the iPhone photo.  I was charging my Nikon battery!

Originally, I was just going to use light blue fabric paint to stencil the design, but I went with a bleach pen instead.

I waited about 10 minutes, and then peeled the paper off like a big sticker.  To get the smaller, peskier parts of the stencil off, I had to use the tip of the exacto knife.

I immediately rinsed the bleach off of the shirt, and then washed it in cold water by itself.  I always worry about "stray" bleach getting on other clothes.

I think my birthday boy looked adorable.  And tall.

As always, thanks for reading!

Currently Loving: January 2012 Edition

Hi There.

Today I'm going to tell you about a few things that I currently can't live without.  Or things that make my life a little easier.  Or things on which I'm currently crushing.  Or something like that.

1.  First, Breathe Right Strips. Didn't expect that one, did you?  I know, that was a total geriatric thing to say.  On the inside, I'm an 85-year old woman.  But for realz, I can't believe how much better I sleep when I have one of these suckers on.  My kids laugh at me, and sometimes it leaves a sticker-mark on my nose the next morning, but I get such a sounder sleep with these.  Honest.

2.  Next, Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Cream. This does have a scent, but it's a terrific one.  It's thick and luxurious, and doesn't affect my sensitive skin at all.  I love the way it makes my skin feel in the morning.  I know what you're thinking: I look too young to use night cream even though I'm 85 on the inside. :)  Gotta start sometime.

Lately, I've been looking for some personalized art for our house.  I came across this cute little Etsy shop, Poppy and Pinecone, that sells great state watercolor prints.  This one is on it's way to my house!  And that heart happens to be RIGHT over the spot where I live.  I feel like it was made just for me.  

And last but not least, I am LOVING the Lightscoop that I got for my camera for Christmas.  My house doesn't get great natural light, and I have to take lots of photos at night since I work during the day.  The Lightscoop attaches to my camera and redirects my flash to the ceiling or the wall to create more flattering light.  I. LOVE. IT. 

 At some point I will devote an entire post to this beauty, but here's an example. 

This is a photo I took in my bedroom with a flash.  Notice the harsh light and the dark background.

And here's the same shot with a flash, but using the Lightscoop.

See?  Better.  Brighter.  I love this thing!

Now what about you?  What are some of your favorite things?

Giveaway: ArtRecycles

Hi Guys.  Just popping in today to let you know that my good friend, the very talented Tracey, is hosting a giveaway.  Tracey is an artist (and art teacher) who specializes in making art out of recycled material.  You might remember her beautiful tuck-it boards, which I've featured on Tulip & Turnip before.

This time, Tracey is giving away upcycled containers:

Aren't they cute!?  I would totally use them to corral all of Charlotte's barrettes.  Or maybe store Nathan's Squinkies.  Or Gavin's quarters.  Or tea bags on my countertop.  Or paperclips at work.  The possibilities are endless!

Visit  her ArtRecycles FB page and leave a comment to enter to win one of your own!

Date of the Month -- January

I consider myself to be a pretty good giver-of-gifts, but my groom is notoriously difficult to buy gifts for.  I'm not even kidding you, I start planning his Christmas gifts months in advance, and they are always a huge fail.  Every December 26 I threaten him:  "If you don't give me a list next year, you're not going to get anything!"  And every year the cycle begins again.  He doesn't know what he wants.  I have a great idea.  He appears lukewarm about the gift on Christmas morning.  The gift gets returned by January 1.  So frustrating.

After seeing this idea on Pinterest, I decided my only redemption would be to buy him experiences rather than things.  You can't really return an experience.  And with the little kids, it's important to us to carve out some time together.

So I got busy planning 12 dates, one for each month of 2012.  I bought a three-ring binder and 12 file folders, and labeled one for each month.

January's date was tickets to see one of our favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan.  Here's the January folder:

We had so much fun.  For those of you that don't know Jim Gaffigan, he is hilarious. We literally spent the entire time cracking up.  It was so worth it!




My plan was to take photos of us on our date too, but it just didn't happen.  My mom tried to take a (blurry) photo of us before we left, but the three little rugrats would not be excluded.

I took a quick one of the theatre as we were running in to escape the cold.

And a quick one in the theatre before the show.

I'll try to do better with the photography on February's date.  Except we're getting a couples massage, so maybe not.

How about you?  Any good date night ideas?  Do share!

My Word for 2012

I was never any good at resolutions.  Case in point:  my 2011 resolution was to do something about this closet:

Friends, I'm sorry to tell you that it looks exactly the same today. 

So, this year, instead of coming up with a big list of resolutions, I'm coming up with a word that will {hopefully} define my year, guide my day-to-day, and move me along to bigger and better things.  Perhaps, (dare I say?) it will guide me towards organizing this closet?  I've seen this idea floating around the web, and it seems to be much more intentional and much less stressful than choosing specific resolutions.

My word for 2012 is presence. I'm going to try really, really hard to be present; to live in the moment within all of my relationships.  To really listen to what people are telling me, and allow myself time to reflect and ponder.  Aren't good listeners hard to come by?  I find that sometimes I'm thinking more about what I have to do later, or what on earth I'm going to make for dinner, or how I'm going to improve my students' fluency than listening to what my companion is saying.  2012 is my year to be more present with my children, my husband, and my friends.

What about you?  What's your word for 2012?

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The Easiest Morning Breakfast

This is not earth-shattering news.

Smoothies are good.

Smoothies are easy.

Kids like smoothies.

Smoothies are one way to sneak some fruit and vegetables into your kids' diets (and yours)!

Here's our daily morning smoothie.  My kids ask for it every morning, and I find that I crave it.  My morning doesn't feel right if I don't start off with one of these.  Please excuse the bedheads in the shots below.

Using two straws is optional, of course, but I find that it gives the smoothie a little extra something.

Here's the recipe:

GREEN MONSTER SMOOTHIE

one banana, broken into pieces

handful of frozen sliced peaches

handful of frozen pineapple chunks

handful of frozen mango chunks

big handful of spinach (about 1 cup)

1/2 - 3/4 cup of orange juice, more as needed

Blend and enjoy!

Countdown to Noon NYE Party

My little bonus baby turned three on December 30.

This blog was born back in 2007, when my twins were born prematurely.  (Blog was "born" -- har har! Hilarious!)  Tulip & Turnip was a way of chronicling for friends and family our journey with premature twins, but has grown into so much more than that.  I have been very open about our struggle with infertility.  It took several years, lots of dough, and eventually IVF to conceive Charlotte and Gavin, who are now four and perfectly healthy.

When they were about 13 months old, Michael and I went out for Chinese food.  I saved the fortune from my cookie that night because I was intrigued:  The love of your life will appear unexpectedly.  A week later, we found out that Nathan was on his way, with no intervention at all (other than the divine kind).  One of the FOUR loves of my life.  I'm a lucky lady.

Since his birthday is so close to New Year's Eve, we decided to have a "Countdown to Noon" birthday party.  I knew there was no way that I was staying up until midnight, so the kids weren't either.  This was their chance to experience the festivities.  Here are a few photos of the celebration.

The giant purple monstrosity hanging from my ceiling is a balloon drop, i.e  two Dollar Store tablecloths "sewn" together with yarn.  It worked!

I made the little memo book and crayon favor based on something I found here via Pinterest.