Eating the Alphabet

Making "fancy" pancakes has been a family tradition for years.

When I was little my dad was known for his pancake art.

His claim to fame was his Hulk Hogan pancake!

Now that I am the parent... it is my turn to design the cakes.

And since Mike LOVES pancakes

we have made it a midweek breakfast event!

 It started with their names, but the following week

Mike wanted to make "every letter"

He had the idea to use his dry erase board

(which happens to be one of my very favorite products!!

and you can find below in out favorite things wiget!)

To "order up" the letters he wanted me to make.

Hmmm... win, win...

they learn the letters and I get breakfast made!

 This is my little secret weapon... my dad never had one of these,

but you can get it at WalMart for under a buck... so why not!

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Beautiful Dresser Re-do

Look what we got!! Yay! After months of pinning beautiful turquoise entertainment pieces on Pinterest and thanks to my talented neighbor, Stacey... I got one! Would you believe this was how it looked before Stacey worked her magic! She just started an etsy shop, Feather Lane Designs, and if you are from central Texas she can even paint a piece you already have... you know that old ugly one you have?

We have pulled the top drawers out to hold our DVR and other t.v. must haves.

Aside for it's beauty and wonderful pop of color... I love the amount of storage it has added to our living room. We can always use more of that!

Inside the big drawers we can store all of our Wii fit stuff, cords and manuals for all our electronics and even throw blankets and games!

In the side drawers we have our DVDs, Will games and accessories, and... well, items to be named later! Would you believe I still have 2 empty ones!!

Don't forget to check out Stacey's etsy shop, Feather Lane Designs and if you are interested in a piece or have a piece you want her to work on... email me!

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Night and Day

It is morning at the Fey house and this is what you get.... One super happy kid who bounds down the stairs, runs across the living room, leaps into your arms, and gives hugs and kisses. He has even been known to sing and dance before breakfast- gasp! This kid is a morning person... just like his mama!

And then, there is kiddo #2... you must allow this kid 15- 20 minutes of alone time in her bed before you speak to her, you must wrap her in a blanket (even in July) and carry her down the stairs. She only speaks in grunts or squeals, until she feels "ready" to talk. My baby is anything but a morning person... just like her daddy! Her nick name is "Bear" which came way before her personality, but trust me... it fits!! So what happens when kid 1 and kid 2 live under one roof... because we all know the one thing you "un-morning people" hate is us joyful morning people? Let's just say, mommy's role as peacemaker is at an all time high! The only thing these two agree on is Jake and The Neverland Pirates and breakfast!

Speaking of breakfast... remember this book I told you I bought and liked so much? Well, it has really helped me add some variety to our meals... especially breakfast.

I have always tried to serve the kids two hot breakfast meals a week (and always on the weekends when daddy cooks), but I would normally skip them and Adam would make oatmeal at work.

Now, I make the kids scrambled eggs (one egg and two whites) and Adam and I are eating something balanced as well... like this low fat, whole wheat english muffin sandwich... Mario suggested adding a fresh tomato slice- YUM! and if you have not tried 2% or reduced fat cheese in awhile- trust me these products have come a long way!

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Favorite Things

I thought is was time for the Fey girls to share some of their favorite things right now. (This makes a great DIL scrapbook page) First up is the Central Market, lemon infused olive oil. My Aunt Loretta introduced it to me when you roasted some asparagus drizzled in this with a pinch of salt and pepper. Holy Moley it was a perfect summer veggie. I also use on chicken, fish,shrimp, and pretty much an vegetable. That pretty jar to the right of it is an organic salt blend grinder from Simply Organic. We call this our house seasoning-lol. We pretty much put it on and in everything!

Not sure which came first the tea mix or the cup, but this is my new mini mama vacation. The diet raspberry tea makes a great sweet treat without the carbs and calories, but when I drink it out of the cutest cup ever- it makes the kids nap time feel like a vacation for me! Every mama needs a special cup... just for herself!

(Thanks, Anne for my cup!)

Here is Addy (who is now 20 months-sigh!) with three of her very favorite things. Her 'baby' commonly called 'bacteria baby' but her mommy and daddy because she can't be washed and has been drug around everywhere. Then we have 'blankie' who is oddly not an addiction, but an obsession... let me explain. We can leave the house without it. She can sleep without it. But, she has her little cuddle routines that require it and 'bacteria baby' likes to be swaddled in it, so it is pretty much always in arms reach. It must me secretly washed and dried. Thank goodness, Lala bought 'blankie jr.' which makes life much simpler around here.

I have been doing a lot of reading these days about living in the now and making sure life little details are captured in our scrapbooks or journals... after all, we know we celebrated Christmas with red and green paper, cookies, and presents... we know everyone had a birthday, but do we remember our favorite things from... lets say summer 1998? When you were 20 months what did you like to do, it, and play with? What are some of your mom's favorite things to use in the kitchen or your dads favorite drink? Adam lost his dad a few years ago and he liked his whisky in a coffee cup and kept a jar of jelly bellies in his top dresser drawer... now these are tiny glimpses of a grandfather my kids never knew. So, go on and make a list of a few of your favorite things!!

New Family Favorite

On the first Saturday of the month,

the Fey boys head to The Home Depot for their Kids Workshop.

Mike made a Pirate Ship last time

(at home because we missed the actual workshop so bought a kit). When Adam came home and showed me the pictures,

I fell in love with all of them...

and lucky you get to see them. All.

The workshops are FREE and

this time they built a planter.

Really? How great is this?! Only men at The Home Depot need 3 hammers AND glue. Mike is so thinking... "Where is mom's glue gun, guys?"

Love this... my sister thinks the exact same way.

We have several pictures of her thinking with her tongue out!

Ummm... looking good!

What? Still, no glue gun?

Ta-Da! What a great job!

Then my sweet boys,

bought two pretty flowers for the planter

and brought it home to me!

Not sure which Fey was prouder that day...

Mike of a job well done,

Daddy of his handy little buddy,

or mommy for her great idea...

to send them off so she could shop for fabric (wink).

Family Favorite

I recently discovered a super fun new children's music group. It is a group of christian dads. You can hear many of there songs on their website and even but songs from the itunes link! They are having a concert in Waco this summer- wouldn't that be a blast of a play date! This is my favorite song... it made me cry...twice! Once just watching it and the 2nd watching my kids dance their booties off to it!

I Spy

We are crazy about I Spy and Look and Find books here at The Fey House. So when I saw this cute idea, I had to make it.

I found a simple 6x6 scrapbook album at Big Lots... and they have some in the $ section at Target right now, too.

Mike had so much fun helping set up for the pictures and even put the book together!

I was a little surprised at how entertained Adelyn was looking at it... she had fun finding the real things in the book!

Here is the animal page.

All things green

and our what's cooking page... just to show a few. I am already thinking about letter, numbers, and outside things!

Fey Family Favorite

I am always asking mommy friends about the toys, games, books, activities, and places their kiddos really like. I guess since we are down to one income and the reality that my kids are growing so fast, I am pretty picky about the things we bring into our house and how we spend our time. So, I thought I would start a new topic to blog about... "Fey Family Favorites" One of our new favorites is the Melissa and Doung Play Dough Set. Mike gave it to Addy for Christmas... I think it runs between $20 and $15 at toy stores and amazon, but I found this one at HomeGoods and Marshalls for $12.99. Worth every penny! He is really getting the 'Big Brother" role these days... like teaching her new things!

Mike makes some mean play dough pancakes ladies! Very serious work!

The wooden kit comes with three rolling pins, two are textured. It has four blocks that are also textured and have shape cut outs. My favorite is the cutter... it reminds me of a pizza cutter. The four tubs of play dough are kinda small and would need to be supplemented for bigger or more kids, but we really like that the lids are also animal molds!

Of course Addy has the "Don't Eat It!" learning curve. Which reminds me why I have also has an aversion to the edible play dough recipes... confuses little ones!

Hmmm... Addy is gonna need lots of time to figure this one out!

PS... I can't wait to scrap these pictures!