Mama & Me Journal

In case you don't know, over at Fabulously Domestic, I'm working on my Pinterest Project.  I complete something - anything - that I've pinned on Pinterest every day for the month of September.  It's been fun so far.  

I wanted to share this little idea with you because it's been pretty great for me this week. 

I made the "Mama & Me" Journal I originally pinned from Mama Jenn!

You can find it in my Stuff To Make board.

I love this journal because it will give me some special time to focus on communicating with my older boys in a fun way.  I think The Chief, especially will be more open with me on paper than he is face-to-face.  We will write little notes back and forth to each other - about anything at all!  For Con-Man, who is only 6, I told him that he can write letters to me or even draw pictures sometimes.  Little does he know this will help him focus on reading and writing skills.

I hope to fill these journals up and make many, many more.  Imagine the memories we'll have to look back on!

How to do it:

Jenn has created great labels you can use for the front of your journals.

Head over there and print them off - you can even use sticker/label paper to make the process more simple!

I used tiny (4.5 x 3.25 in) Composition Notebook

I printed off her labels in the size I wanted, glued to scrapbook paper and then glued it to the notebooks!

Easy, right?

Then on the first page of the notebook, I just wrote a little note to get us started.

Actually, I just used the same letter that Jenn posted!

UPDATE:  This little journal has been REALLY great so far.  The Chief and I have been going head to head lately.  8 year olds are really just starting to get those bad attitudes where they roll their eyes and think their parents are idiots.  So it's been a struggle.  He was very excited to see the finished journal and wrote back to me right away.  When he's finished writing to me or drawing me a picture, he gets this super cute look on his face - grins ear to ear and runs to put it on my bed.  I {love} this.  

Happy Birthday, Chief!

Yesterday was my oldest son's birthday!  He is now 8 years old, but wishes he was 10.  Crazy how they wish away their childhood when we wish we could just get it back, right?!  The Chief is pretty true to his nickname.  As the oldest, he's definitely a leader in this house.  His little brothers follow his every move - good and bad.  They love him and look up to him in ways he'll never know.  And he can never understand how proud he makes me every day - even in the moments that he's driving me completely insane!

We had The Chief's birthday party this past weekend.  I will probably always question my sanity when thinking back on this party in particular.  I let him invite 15 boys total to have a sleepover.  WHAT?!?!  Yes, I realize I must be crazy!  I guess I'm lucky that only 5 kids actually showed up.  My husband somehow didn't realize until 2 hours before the party that kids would actually be spending the night.  I think he tends to block out information when it's something he doesn't like.  

We really went into the party without a plan, which works for us.  If I put too much thought into a party, something will go wrong, I will totally spaz and stress out, which makes my husband grumpy.  Disaster!  So instead, we just let the kids kind of run wild.  

We had some play basketball outside (the goal was his big gift this year), some have a Nerf gun war inside, and sometimes they jumped on the trampoline or wrestled in my living room.

{This is a few of the boys taking cover under a baby gate so they wouldn't take fire from the kids upstairs!}

The only thing I did plan was the food.  Boys need food and lots of it.  Pizza is a good choice - cheap, delicious and feeds a crowd.  Chips, and the like are good to have on hand.  Soda and juice pouches, too.  Most people have cake at a birthday party, right?  Well, that was going to be a problem for us.  See, The Chief doesn't like cake any more.  Seriously.  Not store bought or homemade.  He doesn't like the cake or the icing.  Surely this is a phase, right?  Anyway, when I saw this Popcorn Cake at Cookies and Cups, I knew it would be perfect for us!

{This is the birthday boy with his goodies.  Here you can tell a few things about us: 1 - we love junk food. 2 - we drink cheap margaritas.  3 - we drink even cheaper pop.}


Overall, I'd say The Chief's party was a success.  We didn't have any injuries, fights were kept to a minimum and everyone had fun!  The hubby has put a ban on future sleepovers, though.  We'll see!