Dreamy DIY Or How My Mom Saved the Day

Last year we flew from MS to CA and even though I had planned and planned (it was my 1st time traveling with not just a child but 4 children) in the end, on a scale of 1- 10 it was Really Hard.

The bags I had filled with snacks and crayons and a notepad were depleted within 20 minutes.  

So when we started to plan our road trip to Louisiana (6 1/2 hours without kids, 8 with kids), I did a ton of research on how to make the drive fun (or just tolerable).  A lot of suggestions for games were either too pricey or had a lot of small parts and I was not going to deal with a million tiny toy parts all over our car because I'm mean.  

To start, I bought a pack of 4 small canvas bags from Michaels ($7) and drew little things that sort-of applied to each child.  

CC is obsessed with unicorns and Lil' Dude doesn't really care, so their bags were no-brainers.  Annie loves the song 'Take a Walk' (thanks radio) and the Little Mermaid, so her bag sort of reflects those two things.  Brinx likes everything, especially the color purple, so I decided to subtly push an appreciation for Prince on her.  

I made sock puppets without looking up directions (glue gun, old socks, pieces of felt and a permanent marker) . . .  

. . . And they looked awful, but the kids liked them.

The girls' bags had two books (1 from our library, 1 from Dollar Tree), a card game (3 for $1, again Dollar Tree magic), Road Trip Bingo (4 for $8), 

and the real splurge, but totally worth it, Crayola's Color Wonder kit. 

I got these at Walmart for $8 each, along with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Color Wonder coloring book and extra markers to hand out only when the girls got bored. It was pretty pricey, especially since our budget was $0, but lent itself to quiet time, which is worth $Priceless.

Lil' Dude's bag had books, a puppet, bingo and Dollar Tree toys and he was super content.

At the last minute (like pulling out of the drive way last minute) I threw in some pocket Etch a Sketchs which also bought more quiet time.

Magic Man rigged up our portable DVD player with some rope (maybe 10 minutes before we left, we love last minute) so everyone could see.  It made me love him.  

But here's the Real DIY and why my Mom saved the trip:

This adorable, perfect French company, Lale came out with a Travel Kit as a collaboration with the website Babyccino Kids.

Ugh! I wanted them so bad for the kiddies, but at 50 EUROS each and with 4 kids it would have been around $275USD. So I decided I'd make them for free - or a less-amazing version of them (minus the doll, that's just too hard to make).  

First I pillaged my fabric box and also used old sheets.

I drew patterns on regular paper but my mom (an expert sewer) suggested using tissue paper next time for a more accurate cut.  The eye mask turned into a Kitty Eye mask and the knapsack was more like a drawstring shoe bag. 

I used 'coordinating' fabrics for each side of the mask and put a layer of felt in the middle to help block out light (my mom's suggestion).  Mom had extra elastic for the straps and helped me sew since I didn't look up a How-To-Guide (master sewer, I tell you).

And of course, my mom knew how to sew a quick blanket (which is similar to This Tutorial).

I cut a horseshoe shape for the neck pillow but next time I'll look up a real pattern because the neck part was too thin and a little funny-shaped once we filled it (we cut up a regular pillow for the batting).  

Here's how it turned out. . . .

(My mom made up the pattern for the drawstring bags - she's my hero! - but These would work too)

Turquoise for Annie:

Royal Blue for Lil' Dude:

Purple for Brinx:

'Pink' for CC (or the closest thing I had to pink):

The best part?  

The kids actually used/loved them.

 After hours and hours (too many!) and seeing the results, I was happy that I had followed through with this and SO grateful for my mom's help.  

However, if I had tons of Euro to drop, I would buy the ready-made bag that comes in beautiful French fabric AND has a doll so fast.  

At least the kids used them again for their sleepover at Grandma and Popa's house (and we used Lil' Dude's in the hotel to make him a bed using linens I trusted).

My Dream Happens to be Hubbo's Nightmare

My Nana was a formal lady.  My mom said that she would change herself, my uncle and mom into their dinner clothes and re-do everyone's hair before my Tata would come home from work, so he would be greeted by a beautiful family.

Needles to say my mom grew up to be very proper and she had strict rules for Sunday church attire: which fabrics were appropriate, the amount of embellishments allowed and don't even get me started on shoes.

My little sister and I knew that after church we had to change from our Sunday clothes ASAP and the choices were a casual dress or a casual dress.  

(This might actually be us in our casual dresses - it's seriously hard to tell now.)

When I was single, getting dressed for church was something I respectfully put thought into and I'd always wear make-up (even though weekdays were spent bare faced with messy hair).  The greatest compliment I ever received was someone said that I 'didn't get dressed for church but that I dress for church.' 

This is something all my sisters adhere to.  (Mom is in the A1st necklace, in case you can't tell).

That's all changed now.  There are some Sunday's when we'll be driving to the chapel and I realize my hair is still in the messy bun I slept in.  

I struggle with getting 4 kids fed, hair brushed, dressed and ready for church by 9AM (ideally even earlier because the chapel fills up so fast).  I know, I know, not impossible, more like  super easy, but I'm new at this!  And, it's not so much getting them ready as it is getting them out the door that we struggle with.  There's always something - a fight - a forgotten item - a bathroom stop - Something!

We usually arrive flustered, speed walking in, BUT that does't stop me from snapping photos (Magic Man's nightmare).  I can't help it - they're 90% of the time in matching dresses with their hair done and I even match Lil' Dude's outfit to his sisters. 

As Hubbo does not like to stop walking once we get out of the car  (for obvious reasons), I've gotten better at the 'quickly pose while still heading to the chapel' shot. 

(P.S. My mom would be mortified at Lil' Dude's sneakers but Hubbo promised those were the only ones he'd wear without screaming. I think they're cute, though.) 

And yes, if we have to sit outside in the overflow area I continue to snap a photo or two.  What!? It's for Grandma!

And they're getting better at staying dressed for the drive home just in case I need to get one more shot.  Or three.

Note: CC and Binky are wearing their hair in the same style I did for my 1st Grade portrait in 1983.  Thank goodness my mom was more into 1960s hair for kids than 1980s. 

The Dreamiest Market Ever

When they announced a new Whole Foods at The Domain I knew it was going to be my new favorite location.  And not just because it's 5 minutes from our home.   
They treated their store opening as a big block party and the atmosphere felt like we lived in a small neighborhood.  

My mom and I paid a visit on opening day,

  

(This one is my favorite and not just because we had 12 things when we checked out.)

But wait, there's more . . .This one has yoga classes and waffle -sandwich Friday (I haven't had one but I love the sound of it) and live music.

And my favorite of favorite things:

Local Terrariums! Come on!

I know the Downtown Location is the big, fancy (and flagship) store to go to but this location has better parking ergo this will be the one I take my visiting friends to.

We'll order pressed juice, chocolate cookies and ramen bowls. 

 And then we'll leave with this: 

Best Austin, TX souvenir yet.