As a birthday gift for my daughter, I made these

cute little flower hair clips. They were super easy, and thanks to a clearance sale at Creative Crafts and Frame Shop, they were really cheap! She LOVED them...think we might have to make some more.

You need:

-Alligator hair clips - I got a package of 6 at Fred Meyer. You can also get them at any beauty supply store, like Sally's

-Grosgrain ribbon - I just used what I had in my craft stash

-Silk flowers

-Hot glue gun

-Brads or decorative pearls or gems - again, I just used random stuff from my stash

Here's what you do:

Open up an alligator clip, and run a bead of hot glue on the under side of the top piece.

Quickly place the ribbon along the glue, covering the clip.

Now run another bead of hot glue along the top of the clip - wrap the ribbon around and secure it in place. Cut off any excess. Here is what I ended up with:

Next, take your silk flowers and pop the flower heads off of the stems. It's easier to do than you think. Then, pop the middle of the flower off too.

You have a couple of choices here - either replace the middle with a brad, or you can hot glue the petal layers together and put an adhesive pearl or gem in the middle. If you want to use the flower center that came with the flower, just cut the plastic bit off that sticks through the petals, and hot glue them all together.

Then you simply hot glue them to your clips and voila!

Here is the birthday girl with one in her hair:

A while ago, I posted on facebook how I wish the awesome charm necklaces from the '80's would come back so I could get one from my daughter. Of course, mine was long gone. A good friend of mine replied saying that she thought her mom still had hers, so when I visited her a couple weeks ago, she gave it to me to give to Mia. Mia loved it even more than I imagined. Do you remember these? That sound? The baby bottle? The iron? The toilet? Seriously cool.

What things from your childhood do you wish would come back (or do you wish you kept?)?

Although I'm not ready to divulge my all-star summer reading list yet, I will let you in on one of them because it is completely relevant to this post: Water for Elephants, by Sarah Gruen. It's an awesome story about one man's journey with the circus as the caretaker for the circus menagerie.

And with the circus already on my mind, it just so happens that the Greatest Show on Earth is coming to town! Barnum's FUNundrum will be in Portland September 2-5th.

Did you know that you can get your baby's first ticket to the circus absolutely free? Sign them up HERE and you'll get a voucher to take them to their very first show - no expiration date!

The MOM team is headed to the circus - we'll be back with pictures and tales, stay tuned!

My kids are a little under the weather today, so we decided to do a low-key project indoors and make bath crayons.

There are tons of tutorials online on how to do this, but I primarily used this one from Helium.

Here are the supplies you need: White ivory soap, cookie cutters, a cheese grater and some food coloring. I received the box of cookie cutters from my good friend Casey as a bridal shower gift - they are awesome. Not only are there endless cookie possibilities, but they are perfect for play doh and, well, bath crayons.

You shred the ivory soap with a cheese grater. We ended up using 3 bars of soap.

Then you take a cup of the soap and mix some warm water (about a 1/4 cup) with it. Stir in food coloring of your choice. You are supposed to stir until it is stiff. I can't say that these every got stiff. I also read you are supposed to stir until the soap dissolves, but my kids were a little too excited to wait that long.

Then press them into cookie cutter molds or ice cube trays. I set these on a piece of wax paper over a cookie sheet. We made about 12 crayons out of 3 bars of soap in 6 different colors.

We put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes, then popped them out of the cookie cutters. You are supposed to let them harden for a day or two before using them in the bath. I'll be interested to see if they really work - I've read that people have had varying degrees of success. Either way, the kids had a blast making them, and it was a very inexpensive project. Let us know if you try it, and if so, how it works!

HOPE UNSEEN: The Story of the U.S. Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer

by Captain Scotty Smiley with Doug Crandall

Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster: September 14, 2010: hardcover, $24.99

About the Authors

Captain Scotty Smiley is the Army's only active-duty blind officer. He lost the use of both eyes when a car bomber blew himself up in front of Scotty's vehicle. A recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, he currently commands the Warrior Transition Unit at West Point's Keller Army Medical Center. He and his wife Tiffany are the proud parents of two young children.

Doug Crandall served in the Army for thirteen years, including the last five at West Point where he was an award-winning leadership teacher and later the Executive Officer to the Dean. Doug now lives in Richland, Washington with his wife Stephanie and their children.

Just this past May, Scotty was awarded the prestigious McArthur Leadership Award presented to him in a ceremony at the Pentagon. The MacArthur Award, which is a 15-pound bronze bust of the general, is given annually to 28 company-grade officers who represent the ideals for which General MacArthur stood: Duty, Honor, Country. The soldiers selected for this award have displayed a true commitment to Army values; unequaled technical and tactical competence; and a mature understanding of their leaders, subordinates, peers.

Scotty and his wife, Tiffany, are both from Pasco and are the proud parents of two small boys - Grady and Graham.

What is HOPE UNSEEN?

A visit from an Army buddy a little over a year ago led to another achievement in Scotty Smiley's life. Doug Crandall, who used to teach leadership classes at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point met Scotty when the young soldier served as a guest speaker. Doug dropped by the Smiley's Pasco home during Christmas in 2008. The friends sat around Smiley's parents' house joking and telling stories.

Crandall was so intrigued and entertained by Scotty's adventures that he suggested the Pasco native write a book. Scotty told stories, and Doug became a writer. Together they are now authors of HOPE UNSEEN: The Story of the U.S. Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer which chronicles Scotty's deployment to Iraq, his life-changing suicide bomb attack injury and his inspiring recovery.

The Event- HOPE UNSEEN Book Launch

On Saturday, September 18^th, the official launch of their book will be at the Toyota Center with an evening of music, tributes, celebration and sharing. This event has several goals.

First and foremost, to create a God-filled evening that inspires, provides hope, and brings some to Christ - an after-shock that is felt throughout the community. Secondly, it is a launch point for the book Hope Unseen that begins to spread Scotty's story of sacrifice, determination, faith and triumph. His book will be available for purchase at the event. Thirdly, it is a fundraiser for Young Life and Habitat for Humanity - all profits will go to them.

Scotty Smiley has a very powerful story and believes that his faith has enabled him to overcome enormous obstacles and achieve things many sighted people only dream of. He wants to share his story as a testament to others that no matter what lot you draw, you - through faith in Christ can live the true life you were meant to.

The celebration will consist of videos and presentations by Scotty Smiley and his wife, Tiffany, Franklin Graham and his son, Edward. Major Jeff Van Antwerp and Lt. General Robert Van Antwerp (Chief, Army Corps of Engineers). Music will be headlined by Phillips, Craig and Dean - a contemporary Christian music trio. Jonah Werner (mix of slam, jam, blues folk, rock, acoustic) and Lisa Pratt (the military version of American Idol) will also be performing.

TICKET DETAILS

Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 6:30 pm

Toyota Center

Kennewick, WA

Prices are: $15. Groups of 10 or more are $12. Children (12 and under) are $10.

To purchase: www.ticketmaster.com or www.yourtoyotacenter.com. You may also contact Doug Crandall or Robin Craven.

Ok, the cat is out of the bag....our next cover MOM Is going to be Amy Roloff, Oregon native and star of TLC's Little People, Big World.

If you had the opportunity to ask Amy any question, what would it be? We might just select your question to ask her! Leave it in the comments here, and stay tuned for our behind the scenes look at the interview and photoshoot with Amy!

Summer reading got a little more fun this year for a couple reasons - I am the proud owner of my very own eReader AND I had this amazing streak of reading 5 books in a row that I absolutely adored.

Kindle vs. Nook

A few years ago, I bought the original Kindle as a birthday gift for my husband. He loved it. I did too. So much that I was often begging him to borrow it. So when the eReader price war began earlier this summer, my husband got a Wifi only Nook for me as an early birthday present. The big attraction to the Nook (vs. another Kindle) was not only the price, but the ability to borrow ebooks from our library and other sources. Finding free books for the Kindle is very difficult, and for the most part you are stuck purchasing books through Amazon for the Kindle.

Not only does my local library  have an awesome selection of ebooks to borrow,  Barnes and Noble also has a "lend me" option on many books allowing Nook owners to share books with each other. I have found that the Nook is a little slower than the Kindle - pages turn a little slower and commands take just a tad longer. Navigation of the touch screen commands take a little getting used to. But over all, I love it. I also found with the Kindle I was constantly accidently hitting the page turn button (I understand this issue was resolved with the Kindle 2, but I haven't tried it personally yet). There is not that problem with the Nook. The Nook feels good in my hands - it is slim and light. The Kindle feels a little clunkier, but that is because I was always trying to avoid the page turn buttons! With the Wifi only Nook, you are limited to internet connection when a wireless network is available, which is generally not a problem for me.

Is an eReader right for you?

The big hesitations I hear about eReaders are "Will it give me a headache?" and "aren't you scared to bring it to the beach?" and "Don't you miss the touch, feel, smell of a physical book?"

eReaders use this cool new technology called electronic ink. The device is not back lit, so it is nothing like looking at a computer screen. You have to see it yourself to understand. It is amazing.

eReaders are awesome for traveling. You can bring a whole library of books with you in one small device! We purchased a waterproof cover for it so sand and water would not harm it at the beach.

I personally do not miss the touch, feel smell of a physical book. I'm not a book collector - I read a book once and then I'm done with it. My only complaint with eReaders is that it is a little difficult to flip back through to reference previously read material. You can easily book mark a page, and you can easily jump to a chapter. But if you aren't sure where it is you saw something, it's tough to flip through. For example, while reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there are a lot of Swedish names and places I had trouble keeping track of. I found myself wanting to flip back, but was not able to do so easily.

Overall, I highly recommend an eReaders, specifically the Nook. Both devices are great, but the fact that the Nook is more flexible in terms of where you can get books puts it at the top for me.

Stay tuned for my summer reading recommendations!

Our house is for sale and we decided to paint it. Of course we've wanted to paint the Toxic Blue house since we moved in, but waited to actually do it when we're ready to move out. Don't wait... paint your house now. It's worth it!

We received multiple bids and decided to go with Robby Dennis of Albany College Pro Painters. They did a great job!

We also used a fun online program to mock up multiple color choices. Here are some that we did, and some the kids did. I hope you can tel who's is who's!

Before Blue

Really Red

Go Green

Mello Yellow

Princess Purple

Which did we choose? Check it out at www.tinyurl.com/housecolor

Looking for a fun way to encourage physical activity, build confidence and help your youngster develop social skills? Or, do you just need something fun to do that will burn off some of your toddler's energy? The Tiny Tot Olympics on July 8th has an obstacle course, egg and spoon race and other fun activities for 2-6 year olds. Every contestant receives a lunch, prizes and a gold metal! Can't stay for the entire 2 hours of games? Pop in and meet Sparky the Fire Dog, McGruff the Crime Dog or watch Ronald McDonald's Magic Show. The fun begins in Keewaydin Park in Kennewick at 10 am.

There are so many spectacular fireworks shows to enjoy this coming holiday. What a great way to celbrate Independence Day! How can you make it even better? Try wearing 3-D glasses and see what it does to the show.