A Very Boy Spring Break

Henry and Grant were on Spring Break last week. We have a big family vacation planned for August, so we didn't do a big trip for Spring Break....but we did spend two days of fun exploring not far from home. If I wasn't sure before, this trip definitely confirmed that I am majorly outnumbered by boys! Lets just say that the only girly part of our whole trip was the hour I got to spend in Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma!

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We started our trip with a short drive to Mobile, Alabama to explore downtown. While I attempted to take some cute shots of the boys, they ran around chasing the poor squirrels.

 After seeing Bienville Square and the fountain, we headed to A&M Peanut Shop. This place has been around forever and I remember going to get fresh roasted peanuts when I was little. We let the boys look around and pick out a few sweets and we got a big bag of peanuts to share.

 We walked a little bit further through downtown and sat down to eat our warm peanuts...and feed a few to the birds and squirrels too:)

 We explore the recreated Fort Conde and the boys had a blast pretending to be trapped in the fort prison.

 We left downtown and went to a Five Rivers, a Delta Resource Center. We saw a ton of {gross and slimy} animals that live in the local wetland areas, and we even got to pet a skunk! Did you know that a skunks 'sprayer' can be removed?!? It's a good think because I don't think I would have been touch a skunk if not:)

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After the nature preserve we went to Historic Blakely State Park. Inside the park is a preserved Civil War battlefield complete with Union and Confederate trenches and fortifications. The boys had a blast running around the old barracks while Jason and I read the history about the area.

 After exploring the battlefield, we went down to the waterfront and walked along a boardwalk over the marsh.

 The next day we got up bright and early and headed to the USS Alabama. We spent about three hours looking in every nook and cranny of the battleship from the engine room to the steering room. We climbed up and down at least 100 flights of steps and we even got to go inside of a submarine!

We had a great trip, but I'm pretty sure I earned myself a girl's day of pampering...and maybe even a pedicure:)

Featured Friend Friday #3

Kelli asked if I would like to be featured at her Featured Friend Friday!!  

What? Who? Me?

 I was thrilled and honored immediately nervous about talking about myself :)

I love blabbing about others 

(totally not in the 'gossipy' way)

but I have a hard time yakking about myself.

BUT, in the event that someone cares to know.....here ya go!


I'm a (late) 30-something mama of 2 little ones.

The lizard (soon to be 5) and the ladybug (soon to be 3).

I started blogging last year.

Mainly it was my way to keep track of all the great ideas I see.

A way to organize all of the projects I wanted to try.

I'm a big fan of DIY'ing and I hope I inspire others to try diy'ing too.



A short list random facts:

I LOVE planning parties.

I hate letting people help me.

I eat candy in 2s.  (if there's one left, I won't eat it)

I run to old school rap music.

I am trying to teach myself graphic design

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Most of my projects/crafts/messes are centered 

around the lizard & ladybug.  

Simple, easy and practical are my main requirements!  

My take on cupcakes in a 'jar'

The lizard started preschool this year

so I've had a good time with classroom treats and teacher's gifts.  

These treats were super easy.

(and basically free)

Teacher's Gifts

I am currently planning a combo Pirate Birthday Party.

(the lizard & ladybug have birthdays 4 days apart)

Here is the latest 'big' party we had.

A Valentine's Party 

(we ended up with 25 kids, I think).  

I love sending people home with goodies from a party!

Thanks for reading all about me.

(I hope it wasn't too much)

Come over to lizard & ladybug and follow along.  

I'd love to have you!

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Staci thanks so much for sharing your creativity with us today! I've actually featured one of Staci's cute projects on my blog before HERE....she is just that creative! Be sure to hop over and give Staci a little comment love:)
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Have a great weekend and don't forget to enter the Shabby Apple giveaway and the Kari Machal Designs giveaway.

$20 Credit to Kari Machal Designs

This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Liz from Sugarplum Creations!

I am SUPER excited about the giveaway that I have for you today! Kari from Kari Machal Designs, an Etsy store full of amazing prints, contacted me about offering a giveaway to my readers. As soon as I clicked over to her Etsy shop I knew there was no way I could turn her down:) Seriously her work is amazing and modern....I could find a spot in my house for almost every single one of her prints.

This You Are My Sunshine print is so fun and would be awesome in my yellow guest room.

 I think the Chandelier Silhouette Series would be amazing in dining room or in a master bedroom.

 I am reallly in love with the Family Tree with Birds print! It is so graphic and fun, but still personal...LOVE!

{Kari sweetly offered a print to me and this is the one I chose...I can't wait to get it!}

One lucky person is going to win a $20 credit to Kari Machal Designs.

 To enter:

"Like" Kari Machal Designs on Facebook and leave a comment telling me that you did.




 Follow Random Thougths of a  SUPERMOM! and leave a comment telling me that you do. Favorite Kari Machal Designs on Etsy and leave a comment telling me you did.
Follow me {@SUPERMOM_Kelli} on twitter and leave a comment telling me that you do.
Tweet about this giveaway and include @SUPERMOM_Kelli and a link to this giveaway in the tweet.

Win a beautiful print from Kari Machal Designs http://tinyurl.com/47wgltf and @SUPERMOM_Kelli!

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Make sure to leave a comment for each thing that you do. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end next Friday, April 8th at 10:00 am. I will use random.org to pick a winner! Good Luck and thanks for entering!********************
Kari is also offering free shipping to all Random Thoughts of a SUPERMOM! readers. Simply enter SPRING1 in the comment box when you place an order from her etsy shop.

Wordless Wednesday: A Boy and A Box

Water Your Garden in Style

Spring has sprung in Mississippi which means the grass is turning green and if you want to plant anything, now is the time. We were pretty successful with our grapevines last year, so this year we decided to try out a little gardening. When I say little, I mean little...we started with four strawberry plants and two tomato plants. Spring is Jason's busy time at work and I have the exact opposite of a green thumb so we didn't want to plant too much our first time around. Jason made a raised bed out of landscape timbers, added in some soil, and planted our garden:)

 I knew I wanted the kiddos to be involved too, so we set out to find some cute watering cans for them. We found some at the dollar store, but there was just one problem. If you have been a reader of my blog for long, you know my love of color coding things for my kiddos and you also know that Henry's color is blue, Grant's color is green, and Eli's color is orange. We got Henry and Grant taken care of, but all that was left for Eli was a pink watering can!

 That wasn't a problem that a simple coat of spray paint couldn't take care of though:) I used an old can of orange spray paint and {halfway} covered up the pink.

 I also used a paint pen to personalize the water cans for the boys:) Then they got busy watering the garden!

Do you plant a spring garden?

Kind of Blue

Eli was feeling

 kind of blue {and sticky}

 after finding a blue candy cane

 that had been hiding since Christmas!

**On a more serious note**

My heart is blue today as I head to the funeral for my friend Tonya's mother who passed away Friday after a 3 month battle with Meningitis. Please remember that family in your prayers today as they say goodbye to their mother, grandmother, sister, and friend.

Spring Break and Shabby Apple

This giveaway is closed. Congrats to Lyndee at A Recovering Craft Hoader!
Spring Break officially starts at the end of the school day today...and while I wish we had big plans of travel, leisure, and excitement this year we are just going to lay low and do a little bit of stay-cationing! But just because I'm not actually going anywhere for spring break doesn't mean I can't live vicariously through the Internet:) I have to tell you that a European vacation would be a dream one day, but just looking at all the great dresses on the Shabby Apple website makes me feel like I am halfway there already!

The newest collection of Shabby Apple Women's Dresses is called Roamin' Holiday and man does it make me want to load up the kiddos, max out a credit card, and fly all the way to Rome! These dresses are so fun and flirty. They also look SUPER chic while still looking so comfortable.

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How comforable does this dress {Da Vinci} look...that front pocket is adorable!

And the color combo on this one {Gondola} is so fun!

 This pretty purple dress {La Vita e' Bella} is one of my favorites...I love the sleeve length!

 Seriously who wouldn't want to wear these cute dresses and feel like they were on a Roman Holiday every day of the week!

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Because the people at Shabby Apple are so awesome, one of you lucky ladies is going to win the oh-so-adorable Spanish Steps dress! Check out the details on this dress....amazing!

 To enter:

"Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook and leave a comment telling me that you did. Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me that you do. Follow @shabbyapple on twiter and leave a comment telling me you do
Follow me {@SUPERMOM_Kelli} on twitter and leave a comment telling me that you do.
Tweet about this giveaway and include @SUPERMOM_Kelli and a link to this giveaway in the tweet.

Spring Break & A Shabby Apple Giveaway....such a great combo! Win a dress from @shabbyapple & @SUPERMOM_Kelli! http://tinyurl.com/4aza3sj

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Make sure to leave a comment for each thing that you do. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end next Friday, April 1st at 10:00 pm. I will use random.org to pick a winner! Good Luck and thanks for entering!

Five Minute Monogrammed Doormat

I bought a new doormat for our side door last week. It was a nice sisal mat with a great herringbone pattern...but it was kind of boring. I decided the best way to dress it up {quickly and easily} would be to add a monogram to it.

I used my computer to find just the right W...not too plain but not too frilly either.

I printed it out.

Then I used spray adhesive to attach the printed W to the backside of a piece of contact paper. I had to make sure that the letter was facing the right directions so I didn't end up with a stencil for a backwards W:)

I used a blade to cut out the W basically  making a stencil out of the contact paper. You could also just cut the letter out of paper or cardstock and the spray it with adhesive to get it to stick to the mat.

I placed the stencil on the doormat and decided where I wanted the monogram to be. I decided on the bottom right hand corner, but I think it would have been great in the center too. Make sure to press the contact paper down really well....I learned the hard way that not much sticks to sisal but as long as it is sort of stuck down it will still do a pretty good job.

I covered the rest of the doormat with old newspaper and then enlisted the help of a few {dirty} little feet to help keep the paper in place. FYI spray painting on a windy day is not fun:)

I used an old can of black spray paint, and quickly sprayed a light coat over the stencil being sure to spray straight down so that the paint didn't get under the edges of the stencil. Let the paint dry for about a minute then remove your stencil.

And in just about five minutes I had a great monogrammed doormat!

Wordless Wednesday: A Recent Discovery

Featured Friend Friday #2

Hi! I'm Ashley from Read It & Eat and For A Rainy Day. I am so excited to be guest blogging for Kelli today. So, thank you Kelli!

I am a 23-year-old southern belle married to my high school sweetheart. I'm also a super blessed stay-at-home-mom to our handsome little man who is almost TWO! We share the same birthday...cool, huh? I was born in California, but have lived on the Gulf Coast my whole life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I started Read It & Eat as a New Year's Resolution in 2010. My resolution was to try new things even if I didn't think I would like them, and to try new recipes whenever I could. Sometimes they are amazing and yummy, and sometimes they are BIG flops! I do post about the big flops, because I am open to any suggestions on how to make that recipe work for me. I am enjoying learning new recipes, and loving new foods that I thought I would or used to not like. Don't get me wrong, I have tried "new" foods that I thought I would hate, and I still hate em. This remains my resolution in 2011 and beyond. My true love in the kitchen is baking, so I post a lot of baked goods on my blog.

Like these yummy cupcakes. 

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

 Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I also post some of our family favorites, like Sweet & Sour Sloppy Joes (we like ours really sloppy). I have yet to eat Sloppy Joes made from can mix since.

And, I throw in some snacks every now and then. This Vanilla Popcorn is totally addicting.

About a year after I started Read It & Eat, I decided to start a crafty blog, too. I have posted some birthday projects. Here are the Spongebob invitations I did for my son's 1st birthday.

Some other things I've done are my vintage shower sign, a Valentine "Heart-gyle" wreath, and a thrifty box makeover.

Thank you SO much for reading about my blogs. Come over and visit sometime! Thanks again to Kelli for letting me post!

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Ashley thanks so much for being my featured friend today! Ashley has two really cute blogs that are both worth checking out! Hop over and give her some comment love and tell her I sent you:)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you all have a great {GREEN} St. Patty's Day!

Here are a few pictures of Eli showing off some of our fun festivities:)

 Find the St. Patty's Day tie tutorial over at Mandy's place Sugar Bee Crafts!

And you can find the tutorial to make these SUPER cute Shamrock Marsmallow Pops over at Poca Cosa. She used heart shaped marshmallows which I couldn't find in the middle of March, but I think they still turned out SUPER cute with the regular marshamallows!

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If you need any other last minute ideas to celebrate St. Patty's Day check out my

Rainbow Waffles

Rainbow Cupcakes

Rainbow Pudding

Leprechaun Jello

Lucky Shoe Charms

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

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Wordless Wednesday: Field Day Part Two

HENRY

Click HERE for Part One