Wordless Wednesday--First Day of School

I apologize for the week long absence from blogging, but I had to finish those 2 graduate classes. Here is the little one's first day of preschool on Monday.

Goals for the Week!

I'm a little late on this blogpost because I was finishing up some of my goals from last week. The good news is that my two graduate courses are officially completed and mailed in, as well as my teaching license renewal application. Here are my goals for this week:

Household
--start packing for vacation!
--organize travel binder

Professional
--finish current Etsy orders
--list new items like crazy!
--get ready for upcoming Heartsy deal this weekend!

Personal
--create a Disney Princess autograph book for the little one
--make time to work out at least 3 days this week

Inspiration Tuesday--New Valances!

I'm currently working on valances for our kitchen and eating area. For those who know me well, I'm pretty crafty and love DIY projects. However, fabric is typically my enemy, so this is a big task for me. Here is the inspiration link:

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2010/04/tutorial-how-to-hang-window-valance.html

Monday's Goals for the Week

I've decided to make my Monday posts a more functional post for me, so I'm turning it into a goals for the week post. This is my last full week with the little one before she starts preschool again next Monday. Here are my goals for this week:

Household
--go through all of little one's clothes, sort out school clothes, box up small ones, etc.
--make 2 cornice valances for the downstairs
--general cleaning, laundry, etc.

Professional
--Finish graduate class #1 and mail by Wed.
--Start graduate class #2
--Photograph new items for Etsy shop, get ready for big Sept. deal!

Personal
--Exercise at least 3 days this week

What are your goals this week? Lets motive and conquer!

Wordless Wednesday--New Party Items!

Inspiration Tuesday--Stay at Home Mommy

I'm working on some new invitation designs and children's party supplies, and my little designer is right beside me helping pick which monster to use on the monster invitations. She truly is my inspiration, and I'm so thankful that I get to stay home to raise her. The last 4 1/2 years have gone by so quickly.

While home w/ my daughter, my philosophy has changed a bit from the beginning but is basically the same. I want to raise my daughter to respect others and her environment. I want her to know that she's loved and grow up being happy and healthy. We may have switched from baby wearing and attachment parenting, but we still have the same principles now that she's a little older.

We're currently working on learning to read and using www.starfall.com for most of our learning games and stories to read. Learning is and should be fun, and I've been able to find tons of online games and activities that are appropriate for preschool age. She loves them! Here's our latest fun game, courtesy of The Activity Mom blog:
http://activitymom.blogspot.com/2010/09/sight-word-game.html

We use the words from the starfall books (Zac the Rat, etc.) as well as Disney princess names and words. Hope others can find inspiration here, too!

Monday Meetings--Still Setting Up a Few of These

I'm still working on setting up some "meetings" to introduce you to a few of my favorite shops, blogs, etc. I hope to get these set up soon. In the meantime, have you been to my shops and sites?

www.tscrapper.etsy.com
www.tscrapper.artfire.com
and T and Little S Designs on Facebook. Thanks!

Friday Favorites--Summertime Edition

Instead of pulling websites and photos from the web, I decided to focus on my favorite summer activities this week. It's been so hot and humid in Ohio this summer that I've sometimes focused on how miserable it is outside instead of taking the time to get out and enjoy summer. Here are some of our favorites:
--Visiting the farmer's markets with lots of local fresh produce
--Outdoor concerts at our local college and museum
--Swimming with the family
--Reading with my little girl on the front porch
--Lemonade and Sweet Tea
--Our laid back schedule with more real learning built in throughout each day
--Lots of art time

I could definitely keep going, but I'll stop for now. What are your summertime favorites?

Creative Thursday--Cupcake Wrapper Tutorial

Another Thursday for techniques, and I have a great one to try this week. I've seen adorable cupcake wrappers throughout the web, and I've really wanted to take a chance and make my own to go with my party supplies and cupcake toppers. It just seems like a natural fit, right? Here's a great tutorial with printable template that I found this week:
http://www.utterlyengaged.com/diy-cupcake-wrapper-tutorial-by-snow-graham/

Enjoy! If you give this a try, post your results in the comments so we can take a look.

Wordless Wednesday--Party Hat Time!

Thinking about adding these to my shop in a variety of designs. Thoughts?

Inspiration Tuesday--What I Want My Home to Look and Feel Like

I love warm, bold colors and a cozy, yet contemporary style. It's sometimes really hard to mix that with family life and a busy 4 year old running around, so this week's Etsy Decor article was perfect for me. It has the look and feel that I want throughout my home--organized, lots of color, warm cozy feel, and family friendly. All photos shown below are from this Etsy article: http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/get-the-look-decor-modern-family/?ref=fp_blog_title and all photos are by MeringueDesigns.

Monday Ramblings Blog Post--August 1!!

I can't believe that today is August 1st, and my little one starts back to preschool in 4 weeks from today. She attends a local cooperative preschool for 3 afternoons each week in the 4/5 year old class, and she absolutely loves it there. Until then, we have a few things planned to keep us busy.

This week, we're starting swimming lessons Mon-Thurs for 1/2 hour each day. We also have her last Sat. class this week and a playdate worked in there. We're really hoping that the weather will be a little cooler so we can play at the park, but I'm not sure that's going to happen.

I desperately need to work on my graduate classes as today means that I have exactly one month to finish and submit these 2 classes. Yikes! I'm also hoping to work on our vacation scrapbooks this month and list new Etsy items in my shop. Can we say "busy?"

I've found that I work better with smaller goals each day, so my weekly items have been broken down into managable tasks each day. Wish me luck! What's on your agenda this week?