D Group T-shirts and an elastic waist skirt

I have been doing a little crafting lately. Nothing really new or exciting. I tend to stick with the things I have done before and things I like best :-) I screen-printed some t-shirts for my D Group girls for graduation. I dyed the shirts Sunshine Orange and I think I will like the color more after it is washed a few times and fades a little.

The image on the front is a Unipeg over an Open Book. If you are not familiar with what a Unipeg is...that's ok, I was not either. But, it is Cassie's favorite mystical creature. It is a cross between a Unicorn and a Pegasus...basically a Unicorn with wings. It is kind of a running inside joke in our D Group and I thought it was the perfect mascot for our T-shirts.

The Open Book is because that is what we say every time we get together so that we will open up to each other. It has been so important for our group to be transparent, real and honest with each other so, "opening our book" was critical to our success.

The back image is a bunch of things the girls said, inside jokes, and memories from the year in the shape of a cross.

I think the shirts turned out great and the girls LOVED them. It was so cute with them all reading them together and laughing and remembering.

This shirt was one of the hardest I have ever done because it had ALOT of little wording on the back. I have been asked a few times how to screen print and specifically how to screen print words and the best advice I can say is...it is hard and every time is different. I had to re-do the screen 3 times for this shirt and that is a painful process. I guess, the best tips I can give are:

1) Learn the screen print process first on an easier image. A great tutorial that I learned on is here at Lil Blue Boo.

2) If you are doing words, make sure your font is pretty large...like 35 - 40 point, minimum. It took me 2 transparencies cut and pasted together to get all the words on the back of this t-shirt.

3) Watch meticulously when you are exposing your photo emulsion coated screen in the sun. I think the magic number for the 3rd try this time was 2 minutes and 15 seconds but, each time I screen print it is different. If you use the sun as your light source, like I do, it depends on where the sun is in the sky, if its overcast, the time of day, etc. As soon as your photo emulsion changes color wait like 30 more seconds and then come inside and wash it off. Too little or too long will under- or over-expose your screen and you will have to start over.

I know, this sounds like a beating and sometimes it is...but, I just love t-shirts and when I get a finished product that actually works, I feel like a million bucks!

Another sewing project I had to whip up VERY quick was an elastic waist skirt for Kinley for Ben's graduation party. She was all set to wear this authentic shirt from Mexico (which was actually a dress for when Kinley was an infant) but, she did not have anything to wear with it...so, literally during her nap the day of the party I made her a turquoise elastic waist skirt. I love these skirts because they are THAT easy and quick to make. I decided to add yellow polka-dot fabric for pockets and yellow hem stitching.

The turquoise worked perfect for the twins turquoise and orange birthday party and of course we wore it to Ben's party as well! 2 uses out of it already!

Look at all the orange and turquoise girls in a row!

Here she is at Ben's party...

and how cute was she as a 10 week old in Mexico with that shirt as a dress!

I think we will take this outfit to Mexico this year too. Lots of pics to come when we get back.

Lifethrualinds on LullabyLubbock

Hey guys! I am so, so excited to be guest posting today over at Lullaby Lubbock!

They are having a Summer Essentials series that rocks! I am so thrilled to be a part of it. I have loved reading all the Summer Essentials posts so far and cannot wait to see who else they have to guest post this summer too.

I will be talking about something very near and dear to my heart....

So, come on over to Lullaby Lubbock!

Happy Father's Day!

We are celebrating Father's day in Mexico with a little of this

We will be back soon with a ton of pictures I am sure. But, I wanted to take a few minutes to say Happy Father's Day to the 3 best dads I know!

Gary / "Pops"

I know we are having a great time in Cancun for Father's Day today and I know you can't think of a better way to spend a day dedicated to you! Thank you for being such a great example of an invested father-in-law and grandpa. You are so dedicated to Ben and Alex and all their endeavors. You are proud of them for their accomplishments and totally invested in their lives. Thank you for being so supportive of Ben graduating this year and for making sure it was a special event that deserved celebration. Thank you for all the "baby duty" you do with Kinley when we are all together. She loves to follow you around and take you through the house and the backyard and to swing and to look at her duck upstairs. I am so appreciative of all you do!

Dad / "Boss"

I know you are in Africa right now and may never read this but, that is just why I want to write it. You are selfless and heart-felt and giving and every day you sacrifice for your family. You do not do anything to get recognized or praised for it. You are just a hard worker and a dedicated husband, father and grandfather. Kinley loves spending time with you and you are the only grandfather I know that wants to keep her on your own like you did several times this year when mom and I went to events at church and Ben was in school. You laugh and play and swing her and pull her around in the wagon and change her dirty diapers like the best of them! Thank you for loving her so much! It just continues to confirm why I am so in love with you as my daddy. I feel so blessed to have had you as a father growing up and you continue to set such an example for us.

Ben

Happy Father's Day. This is your third Father's day and you just continue to amaze me more and more each year with how wonderful of a Father you are. Kinley adores you and just absolutely loves getting to spend time with you. A few memories of you two specifically from this year are:

1) When you took her to Academy after your finals were over for school and she looked at you and put her hand on her heart and said "Daddy, Kinley happy." She had such a happy heart just spending time with you and she wanted to make sure you knew it!

2) The three days you spent with just her while I went to Boston for Bart's graduation. You had 3 nights of daddy-duty all night long and all by yourself and I know she loved every minute of it. She felt peaceful and happy and rested with you here and I know you will never forget it.

3) You getting her out of bed on Christmas and Easter morning to come see what presents she got while I took pictures. It is small moments like those that I am so thankful to have a partner in life that is excited about the same moments I am.

4) All the times you have taken her to Bass Pro Shops. This is truly something she loves doing with you. She talks and talks about the fish and the ducks that you see and getting to crawl in and out of the tents and the boats. She just loves it. And, she knows it is something special that just the two of you do. When she is getting ready to go, she says "Mamma stay at Kinley's house" because she does NOT want me to go too. It is really pretty cute.

5) You, along with lots of help, building Kinley's swingset at the lakehouse. That was definitely a labor of love and one you will not soon forget I am sure!

6) How you can get her to smile when we take a family picture by tickling her leg. For some reason, I can't do it...but, you know just the right tickle spot!

I love you Ben and I am so thankful that you are my husband and Kinley's father and I can't wait to see you be a Father to Ty too! Happy Father's Day!

Orange the Fish

This is our fish.

Her name is Orange. I know it is a her because I asked Kinley if it was a boy or girl and she said "girl." And her name is Orange because I asked Kinley what her name was and she said "Orange." Nevermind if she was actually just telling us what color she is....the name stuck.

Kinley got Orange at Kristen's twins goldfish-themed birthday party. It was a fantastic party that you should definitely go look at all the details of right now. Real, live goldfish as a party favor!?!?!? What could be better? Kinley rode all the way home from the party, even when she fell asleep, holding her fish.

So, our first stop back at home was to Walmart to pick up some fish necessities.

Ben and I joked that we will probably definitely show up on People of Walmart because we wheeled in straight from out of town, looking grubby with a pregnant girl, a fish in a bag and a camera.

Kinley picked out a fish bowl, with some help from her daddy. I don't know the first thing about fish but, he grew up with a saltwater fish tank in his house. I think he really liked this one because it has an LED light that changes colors. Maybe he thinks Orange is going to have some friends over for a dance party.

We also got some fish food, which Kinley promptly began to show me how Orange would eat.

Thanks Kristen and Jeff for the addition of Orange to our house. Kinley is still in love with her everyday!

Lake night with the Booths

Summer has been busy for us so far and time just gets away from me! I can't believe how sparse my blogging has been. I think it is mainly because we are outside all the time and in water a lot and I just don't take as many pictures. I do have a few things planned over the next couple weeks though. All in all, I just love summer and I love that time and schedules just go out the window.

This weekend was one exception where I took lots of pictures and I am so glad I did. We went out of town on Saturday night to the lakehouse and the Booths met us there for a one night sleepover! It was a great landing point for our trip to Tyler the next day for Kristen's twins birthday party. It broke up the drive for both of us and it only took like 45 minutes on Sunday to get there. Saturday afternoon Bob and Ben had a late tee time and so just the girls hung out at the house...and it was plenty of entertainment.

Kinley and Ella were too cute together. They wanted to do exactly what the other was doing all the time and it was so cute to see. Kinley is definitely a small groups kind of person. She thrives in small groups of people where she knows everyone. She can get kinda shy and clingy in big groups but, one on one she just loves. Maybe her love language is quality time. We will have to see if she is always like this or if its just a phase....but, I digress. The lakehouse was a very fun getaway for all the girls!

We dug in the sand.....

We made and painted some really cool jewelry that Allison brought.....

The biggest hit was the outdoor shower....

Mid-shower, all that water flowing helped Ella realize she needed to go potty. So, she decided to go like a puppy in the grass....love this pic!

Let's get all clean

We had a dance party.....

McKenna was an ANGEL the entire time and just hung out in the pack in play during the dance party.

We took a bath...

Then about 11:00 we started Princess and the Frog. What precious angels.

We had SO much fun at the lake with the Booths! We can't wait to hang out again soon!