Ode to a Pine Tree

Pine trees suck.

Mostly just pine trees you don't see

when you are backing up...

But especially pine trees you hit

because you didn't see them

when you were backing up.

But the pine tree that sucks the most,

is the one that made a big scratch on my car

because I didn't see it

when I was backing up!

One Fish, Two Fish...

Well, really two birthdays in one!

This weekend we celebrated both Grant's 5th birthday and Eli's 2nd birthday with a party at a local gymnastics facility!

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I took one of the party favor bags to the bakery and they matched the cakes to the bag....I thought they turned out really cute!

I picked up these SUPER cute bags in the dollar section of Target a few weeks ago. Each kiddo got a bag with a few Dr. Seuss goodies inside. Grant proudly wearing his #5 birthday shirt. I whipped up these birthday shirts for Grant and Eli on Friday night before the party.
Eli having a blast on the trampoline track!

Waiting patiently to blow out the candles.

FREE 4 All Friday!

This giveaway is closed.

Congrats to Kristi aka Kmama @ The Daily Dribbles.

It's the fourth Friday of the month.

That means it's my turn to host FREE 4 All Fridays!

Because everybody likes free stuff, right!?!

*******************It is back to school time! Actually my boys have been in school for almost 4 weeks now, but I know that we start a little early and most places are just now gearing up for school. Anyway, I figured I would do a fun school type giveway.

This week I have some SUPER cute school supplies to make all the mom work that goes along with school more fun! A few weeks ago, I found these really cool school supplies that are made for you to color, decorate, and design yourself! They are SUPER cute in black and white, but I bet they will be even cuter when someone decorates them with some fun colored Sharpies!

So that is exactly what I am giving away this week!
*a Create an Original compostition book*a Create an Original notebook*a pack of multi colored Sharpie markers

To enter:Leave a comment telling me if your kiddos have started school or if they haven't yet, tell me when they do start.

For another entry, follow my blog and leave me a comment telling me that you do.
For another entry, follow me on twitter, and leave a comment telling me that you do.
For another entry, tweet about this giveaway and include @SUPERMOM_Kelli in the tweet.
For FIVE extra entries, subscribe to my blog via feedburner...click on the icon in the right sidebar by the facebook and twitter icons.
For one more entry, stop by Mimi's place and tell her "HI" too!

Make sure to leave a comment for each thing that you do. I will use random.org to pick a winner on Sunday! Good Luck and thanks for entering!

Ants and Crumbs

This is Eli's booster seat.

He eats most of his meals sitting in this seat....except when he eats breakfast in the living room while Henry and Grant are getting ready for school. I'm going to be real here and tell you that most days you will find crumbs and smears of food on, in, and under Eli's seat.
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Yes, that is a jelly smear on the side of his seat.

Yes, we had biscuits and jelly for breakfast on Saturday.

Yes, I knew it was there.

Yes, I took this picture on Tuesday.

Yes, I was being lazy and not cleaning it.

Yes, the jelly is still there...though now I'm kind of feeling bad, so I may have to clean it today:)

I'm also going to be real and tell you that I don't clean Eli's seat after every meal every day every week! Those goldfish crumbs have probably been there a while.
Not cleaning his seat has not really been a problem...until some way too smart ants figured out I was being lazy and started feasting on the buffet that was Eli's seat!
I spent an hour yesterday chasing down a mile long line of ants with the Dust Buster. And then I cleaned the crumbs and smears of food off of Eli's seat...well, except for that jelly smear!

Wordless Wednesday: These Boots...

Pottery Barn Inspired Wall Display

As I was browsing the Pottery Barn website last week, I came across this gorgeous wall display using platters, twine, and letters.

I was in love the second I saw it, and I knew that I had to make something similar for my dining room. I also knew it would be a pretty inexpensive project because I already had a few white plates sitting in the cabinet just waiting to be used for a craft project.

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I used two of my round plates and picked up a SUPER cute oval one at Marshall's for $2.99. I already had a roll of twine, and I found a few rubber bands {which I only ended up using one of}.

Using my Cricut, I cut the letters E, a, and t out of white card stock, and then I used spray adhesive to mount the letters onto some brown card stock.
I wrapped the twine around the plates and tied the two ends together in the back. There is a video on the Pottery Barn website that walks you through the steps of using the rubber band to make the twine elasticized....I tried it on one plate, but didn't do it on the other two.
I {technically my hubby} attached some inexpensive hooks to the back of the plates with two part epoxy and then let the hooks cure overnight.
I hung the plates above the doorway in our dining room. We have ten foot ceilings in our house, so sometimes the space over the doors seems really big and blank. If my hubby would let me, I would probably hang something over every doorway in our house:)
This is a great way to dress up a blank wall in your house...plus it is really inexpensive and SUPER easy to do. I also love that it will be really easy to change out the letters so I can also use that area to decorate for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I'm linking this project up with The CSI Projects Pottery Barn Inspired Challenge.

Subway Art

I'm sure you have all see the hundreds of different versions of Subway Art floating around blogland lately! It seems that everyone is in love with the graphic simplicity of white letters on a black background or black letters on a white background depending on the technique. I saw the first Subway Art over at Jen's place Tatertots and Jello. She has shared a few different versions, and even has a linky party set up for everyone to share their versions of Subway Art.

After seeing so many great versions, I knew I had to try and make my own Subway Art...and I knew the perfect occasion too. This was actually my second attempt on the same canvas. My first attempt included contact paper used as stencils....which just in case you were wondering....is NOT very effective. I had planned to place the contact paper stencils on the canvas, paint over them, and then remove the stencil leaving the white canvas behind. The contact paper did not adhere to the canvas surface very well, which led to major bleeding. I ended up having to paint the entire canvas black and continue on with another technique.

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For my successful version, I used my Cricut to cut out the letters on bright white card stock. Then I used Mod Podge to attach the letters to the already painted black canvas. With the help of a ruler, a pencil, and a foam craft brush, the letters went on the canvas pretty easily. I added a few layers of Mod Podge just to make sure the letters were securely attached and to make the canvas a little more durable.

I think it turned out pretty great for my first {well technically second} attempt at Subway Art, and I really hope my friend Ashley loves it!

Yummy No Bake Cheesecake

I love cheesecake.

I'm pretty sure that I admitted in one of my Not Me Monday posts, that I had eaten at The Cheesecake Factory twice in one week just because I love cheesecake so much!

If you have ever baked a real cheesecake, you know that it is a TON of work...and mine always end up with a huge crack right down the middle. So when I am craving cheesecake but don't want to deal with the ordeal of making a real baked one, this is my go to recipe. It is SUPER simple and oh so yummy!

No Bake Cheesecake

graham cracker crust

two 8 oz packages of cream cheese

1/3 cup of lemon juice

one can of sweetened condensed milk

one teaspoon of vanilla

Mix cream cheese until smooth. Add in the lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. Mix until creamy. Pour into prepared crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Serve plain or with the fruit topping of your choice.

CSN Stores Table Ideas and More...

Lately, I've been thinking that maybe we need a new dining table.

Do you remember my post about my breakfast nook and all the great built-in benches that I was drooling over.I think that maybe we need a new table that fits the space better and will work well with a bench....but that means I have to find just the right table.

Enter CSN Stores.

Just about the time that I was thinking about getting a new table, I got an email from the awesome people at CSN Stores saying that I had been selected as a CSN Preferred Webmaster. How cool is that! And even more cool was that they wanted me to do a post including a few links to some dining tables!

I just couldn't say no to that!

Check out some of the awesome tables that can be found online at CSN Stores:

CSN Stores also carries a ton of other things in their 200+ stores...anything from:

SUPER cute rain boots

{which my youngest sister has been wanting forever}

to baby gear
{that we sadly don't need much of anymore}

to lamps!
{which my living room is in desperate need of}
One more great thing about being a CSN Preferred Webmaster is that I will get to share some great products and even do a few giveaways in the near future! Go check out all the great things that can be found at CSNStores.com!