Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Best of 2012

Hello friends!

2012 was so exciting here at It's A Long Story. I had some posts get more views than I ever could have imagined. It is so humbling to think that people like the things I do here enough to pin them, let alone do them!

Here are some of the Best of 2012:


I never in a million years would have thought that this post would get the response that it did. These were literally something I made for Abbey out of necessity. Apparently I wasn't the only one who needed them! These have been pinned literally thousands of times, and everytime I see it it boggles my mind! Not only that, but it brought on the creation of The Flannel Lamb, which has been such a blessing!

These have been so much fun to make! There are still more rattling around in my head, so stay tuned. If you've made any toddler boxes I would love to hear about them! Link me up or tell me about it in the comments!

This series was SO much fun! My friends Amy and Samantha for a month of fun books and activities. There is a lot of really fun stuff in there, so go take a look!

Want even more goodies to look at? Take a look at the Best of the Best from other Kid Blogger Network bloggers. It's a fantastic list, and worth taking the time to go through! There is also a linky party at the bottom of this post. What fun things have you been doing with your kids this year?



52 Brand New ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ angeliquefelix.com - The Magic Of Play ~ At home with Ali B-Inspired Mama ~ Blog Me Mom ~Boy Mama Teacher Mama ~ Busy Kids = Happy Mom Carrots Are Orange ~ Caution! Twins at Play ~ Coffee Cups and Crayons ~ Confessions of a Montessori Mom Craft To Art ~ Creative Family Fun ~ Creative Kid Snacks ~ Creative Learning Fun ~ Creative Playhouse Creative with Kids ~ Cute and Peculiar ~ De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire ~ Dirt And Boogers Edventures with Kids ~ Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ The Good Long Road ~ Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails Glittering Muffins ~ Go Kid Yourself ~ Growing A Jeweled Rose ~ hands on : as we grow ~ Here Come the Girls Home Learning Journey ~ Housing A Forest ~ Mama Smiles ~ In Lieu of Preschool ~ Inspiration Laboratories Inspired by Family ~ It's A Long Story ~ JDaniel4's Mom ~ Kids Creative Chaos ~ Kid World Citizen Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers ~ Kitchen Counter Chronicles ~ Laughing Kids Learn ~ Learn with Play at home Lessons Learnt Journal ~ Life At The Zoo ~ Little Artists ~ Living Life Intentionally ~ Living Montessori Now ~ Love, Play, Learn Loving My Nest ~ Mama Pea Pod ~ mama miss ~ Mamas Like Me ~ Mess For Less ~ Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas ~ Momma's Fun World Montessori Tidbits ~ My Buddies and I ~ My Little Bookcase ~ My Nearest and Dearest ~ No Twiddle Twaddle ~ Nurturestore Octavia and Vicky ~ One Perfect Day ~ ourfeminist{play}school ~ Picklebums ~ Play Activities ~ Playdough to Plato PlayDrMom ~ playful learners ~ playing with words 365 ~ PragmaticMom ~ Putti'sWorld ~ RainbowsWithinReach Rainy Day Mum ~ Raising Playful Tots ~ Reading Confetti ~ Red Ted Art ~ Royal Baloo ~ Science Sparks ~ Scribble Doodle and Draw Small Potatoes ~ Smiling like Sunshine ~ Sun Hats & Wellie Boots ~ Sun Scholars ~ Teach Preschool ~ The Educators' Spin On It The Fairy and The Frog ~ The Freckled Homeschooler ~ The Golden Gleam ~ The Imagination Tree ~ The Iowa Farmer's Wife The Outlaw Mom Blog ~ The Pleasantest Thing ~ This Reading Mama ~ Toddler Approved ~ Train Up a Child ~ True Aim Two Big Two Little ~ What Do We Do All Day? ~ Connecting Family and Seoul

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Our Week in Pictures: Christmas Edition

Hi friends.

Did you all have a wonderful Christmas? I hope so. Ours was fantastic! We made it to all three families with minimal chaos. Hooray!

We made cookies.


We went up to Michigan the weekend before Christmas to see Matt's mom, step-dad and half-sisters.

There were dancing lights.

And lots of new toys!


And even more One Direction.
(ahhhh...to be a tween again!)

There was a hilarious grocery store combination.

And bowling (who doesn't love bowling? Especially when you get to use bumpers because your 3 year-old needs them!)

(now how is that for some joy?)

We headed back home on Christmas Eve, and guess what was waiting for me in the mail?


MY DIPLOMA CAME!!! (cue wild running, and arms waving, and happy dancing). I am done. Done, done, DONE!

I got the privelege of hanging out with some pretty cool kids in our Special Needs activity room for one of our Christmas Eve services. Love them.

We've decided on having the "open your Christmas jammers on Christmas Eve" tradition. I like it.

Matt and I went to 11:00 service on Christmas Eve. 11:00 is my favorite service because you leave and it's CHRISTMAS! It's even better when you leave and it's snowing, but that wasn't the case this year. (p.s. isn't the Sanctuary at my church pretty? We got married right up there!)

Is there anything better than setting up your child's first bike on Christmas Eve? Especially when you didn't have to build it! (Thank you, Walmart, for pre-assembled bikes. I don't usually like you very much, but in this case I am willing to make an exception!)

I don't typically play the "Look what I got!!" game, but...I got a Better Life Bag for Christmas!! (again with the arm waving and the happy dancing)!!!! If you don't know about Rebecca and her amazing company, go spend some time on her blog. She's got some cute kids, too! They're worth the trip by themselves!
(She's so pretty. Her name is Molly!)

And then...the best gift of all...a massive head cold! Boooo!

So, there was lots of this

And even more of this

All is well now, though. And I appear to be the only one who had to deal with the yuck, so for that I am grateful. We got the chance to spend the day with Matt's other side of the family yesterday, but sorry...no Instas. Bad blogger.

I hope you feel as blessed as I do this year!

Heather

life rearranged

Friday, December 21, 2012

DIY gifts for Little Ones {that you still have time to finish!!}

Hi friends!

So...who isn't done with their Christmas shopping yet??

I know it's hard to believe, but I actually am! It's pretty much a miracle.

But, considering the fact that I have spent many a Christmas Eve finishing gifts, I wanted to give you all a list of things that you still have time to get finished. All of these can be put together after the kids go to bed, and still let you get to bed at a decent hour!


Toddler Boxes
What little one wouldn't love a whole new set of fun things to play with? Put together a bunch of Toddler Boxes and let them go to town!

Magnetic Play Sets
Dress Up Doll

I made Abbey a magnetic Dress Up doll for our road trip over the summer, and she loves it! This one is completely backed with magnetic sheets.

Fill-A-Dot Games
So, it turns out that large, flat sequins are the perfect size for Bingo Dauber sheets! Who knew!? A piece of magnet on the back and you have dots that can be used over and over again. Print off your favorite Bingo Dauber sheets (my favorites are from DLTK), laminate them if you like, and play away!

Play Scenes
I found this adorable nativity scene at Babalisme. This girl has some ca-uuuute printables, so go check it out!

Light Table
A light table is such a fun play toy, and can be used for so many activities! This one is so simple to make, and fits into anyone's budget. Don't forget to throw in some DIY Color Discs!

Olliblocks


You guys. I am in LOVE with Olliblocks from Caravan Shoppe! These simple play sets are easy to make, and offer endless combinations of fun! I made Abbey the Christmas set last night. It took about 2 hours, including waiting for the ModPodge to dry, and doing 2 coats. She loves them! Bonus: They fit in the boxes I use for Toddler Boxes! Win!

The fantastic people at Caravan Shoppe have given me a 20% off coupon to share with you!
Use the code longstory20 (all lowercase!) for the next week! Yay!

Alright...now get those gifts done!

Be blessed!

Heather

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