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?

source

Linking up here:

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.

Knock-Off Decor

My DIY Oars were featured on a new website called Knock Off Decor.  Check out the website to learn how to recreate the oars, and also see how other people are "knocking off" home decor!

Thank you, Beckie!

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year, my friends.

Wishing you joy -- the kind that makes your stomach tingly and your arms wiggle.

Wishing you big, loud belly laughs that make tears roll down your cheeks.

Wishing you friendship, so you can greet the new year with confidence knowing that you're not on this journey alone.

Wishing you love, all kinds.

Cheers!