Silas Watches Football with the Guys

Watching the Bears lose.

 He fell asleep with his hand in the snack bowl.

January 2011 Date Night

One of our New Year's Resolutions was to have more date nights. We decided that we'll have at least one a month. Of course, more would be nice but that's probably not possible at this stage in our lives. We'll take what we can get. We're so thankful to have a wonderful group of people from our church who are willing to take turns hanging out with our kids while we go out.

This month, we went to an Illini Hockey game.

 After the first period, I braved the super-long concession line for a hot chocolate and french vanilla cappuccino.

After the second period, Caleb walked over to the other side to talk to our friend, Quinn. 

It was so much fun, we loved it! Illinois beat up on Wisconsin. And there were plenty of fights on the ice and heckling from the stands to keep things very entertaining. A very fun date night. Thanks Rachel & Brett, for watching our punks while we were out.

How to Deflate an Air Mattress

How to Deflate an Air Mattress from Keli Billingsley on Vimeo.

Step 1:  Release air valve.

Step 1:  Let Nella & Silas play on deflating mattress.

Yes, Nella is wearing a pull up. We were getting ready for bed. She has been potty trained for a long time now, but she still doesn't stay dry overnight. Any tips? Or is this something that she'll eventually grow out of? 

Recent (Frugal) Projects

I've crossed a few items off of my 'gotta make this' list. I love when that happens! 

 First are some framed silhouettes of the kiddos. I've been wanting to make these for quite some time (ever since they first started floating around the crafty-decor blog scene) and I finally got around to it.  They were easier to make than I was expecting, but there was lots of tedious cutting. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I hung them by our front door.

I made some of my nephews to give to my sister. So Cute! See? They're not only easy to make, but pretty darn cheap too! Including the frames, this project cost less than $7.

Next is this wreath I made for Nella's room. The material is some of her old receiving blankets and baby clothes that I was going to donate to Goodwill. I saw this wreath and decided that the stack of blankets and clothes could make a cute and functional keepsake for her. I bought a wire wreath frame at Hobby Lobby and got to work cutting and tying the fabric.

It didn't turn out as cute as I was hoping, but she really loves it and thinks it's special and that's good enough for me! The total cost here was $1 (for the wreath frame).

And finally, a couple of weeks ago my sister helped me recover this little bench. My mom had this bench for years and she was going to throw it away. I rescued it from the trash pile. My sister brought over some sweet navy houndstooth fabric and helped me give it a little upgrade.

  I was really tempted to paint the legs a glossy red. But, the temps were too cold for spray paint and I do appreciate a nice, worn wood. So, for the time being, they're au natural. Since the bench was from my parent's trash pile and the fabric was from my sister's stash, the total cost here was $0!  

Silas Gets Frustrated

Silas tries to climb up a slide. The very fake, fussy shriek at the end is a typical Silas reaction. Enjoy.