Repurposed on Purpose - Bandanna Napkins

Are you looking for a fun and easy way to dress up your summer dinner table? What about an easy and fun napkin solution? 

Have you ever thought about using Bandannas? 

Last summer my mom purchased about 12 bandannas for me in bright colors to use as napkins. They are great! 

The size is perfect, they wash up well (make sure you buy the 100% cotton ones), and they do a great job of cleaning hands and faces. They are also pretty inexpensive. We found these for less than $1 a piece. Bandannas can be found in a wide variety of colors. I liked these bright ones for summer. But this year I was thinking of getting red, white, and blue for the July 4th holiday.

You can find Bandannas at a variety of stores, Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, etc... They are pretty easy to come by. 

I stopped using paper napkins a couple of years ago and I don't regret it. We still keep paper towels around, but I really like using cloth napkins at our dinner table.

Adding a few cloths to the laundry is no big deal and they do a much better job of cleaning up certain messes than paper napkins do. 

Have you ever tried wiping grilled chicken off your hands with a paper napkin and ended up with more napkin on your hands than chicken on the napkin? I have. 

I like to fold our napkin bandannas up and keep them in a cute basket right in the middle of our table. It makes them readily available for everyone. 

Sometimes, company doesn't know what to do and so we show 'em! Just wipe that barbecue sauce right on that napkin, Mr. You'll be glad you did! 

Cloth napkins last for years and can be reused many times. I like to watch for different ones on clearance and switch them up for the seasons. It is a fun way to dress up your dining room table. 

Plus, I always feel a little fancier using my cloth napkins.

Maybe a little of that fancy feeling will eventually rub off on my man cubs in the form of better table manners. 

Hey, a mom can hope, right?!

Oh Summer, Where Art Thou?

Just because this winter seems like it will never end.
Just because I miss summer.
Desperately.
I am going to post some of my favorite pictures from summer that haven't made the blog yet.

Is there anything cuter or more summery than a baby bunny?

One of my favorite annuals.  

I have no idea what its called.  

But it has very unique foliage so I can buy it every year.

I love this shot. Gonna have to use a wheat field in some Senior portraits or family pics this summer.

Can you smell summer in looking at this pic?  I can.

I miss summer.  

I cannot lie.  

There are many nice things about winter, including the Olympics this year.

 But, summer wins, hands down, every time.

May you go to sleep tonight appreciating what is, and dreaming of what will come.  

Because it will come.

Eventually.

How do you keep 6 Kids Busy? Frozen T-Shirts

Spending the week at my sisters house can be quite the adventure.  We have 6 kids between the two of us, all under 10 years of age. 
Only one girl in the mix.
We have a lot of fun but over the years we've learned that it helps to have some constructive plans to keep the kids busy.  They all play really well together, most of the time, but if there is too much unscheduled play time, things can get a little hairy.
This year we tried to be a little smarter so we began what we like to call Mom Camp.
Basically, just some fun activities, crafts, or otherwise organized time.

One super hot, muggy evening, we decided it would be a perfect time for a frozen t-shirt contest.

That's right, I said frozen.

As in cold, hard, block of ice.

So here is what you do: (we got this idea out of the Family Fun magazine).
Get a t-shirt out and soak it in the sink. 
Wring it out really well.
Fold it up neatly or crumple in a ball.
Place on wax paper and place in the freezer.
Wait until it's frozen solid, a couple hours at least.
Pick a hot day to do this on.
Get out the frozen t-shirt and let the contest begin!

 The kids weren't told anything about the contest when we sent them outside.  We also sent them outside for at least 5 minutes so they would get good and hot in the muggy weather we were having that day.  We wanted them to be willing to participate in our contest.

It was so fun to watch them do this! Everyone was having a great time trying to pry their frozen shirt apart (well, almost everyone).

They were laughing and giggling, and trying really hard to be the winner. (We bribed them with a prize, which turned out to be fake.  Mean, I know, blame Hunky Hubby, it was his idea.)

In hindsight, we should have had each child go individually and timed how long it took them to put the shirts on.  That way we could have watched each individual more closely and seen all of their funny expressions as that cold shirt touched their warm skin.

I could have gotten more pictures that way too.

It was so much fun, and such a simple thing to do.

I think we'll have to put this on the list for next years Mom Camp.

Dinner Cookout

So by now you have probably figured that I am pretty behind in my blogging endeavors.
I'm sorry.
We don't lead a boring life, really.
I have lots of things to share.
It's just that we have been so busy and I fall into bed so tired. 
I can't think to type, I can't think of what to type.
So I just read and then go to sleep,
consequently letting down few all of the people who are interested in our life up here in the woods.

Here's something I was going to post awhile ago.
My parents came up for a visit at the beginning of the summer, before everything got crazy.

This is what relaxed looks like.

We decided to have a camp fire cookout for Tate's birthday dinner.

We had pudgy pies and hot dogs.

Of course there were s'mores too.

Other than being worried that Wyat would fall head first into the fire or burn his hand on the hot pudgy pie makers, it was a really relaxing night.
Even Mom had a good time.
Tee-hee! (she doesn't like it when I take her picture)

Hunky Hubby is a master at pudgy pie assembly, and fire building, and hot dog cooking, and marshmallow roasting! O.k., he's pretty much a master at everything.

Seth has a look of joyful expectation, doesn't he?

Who knew pudgy pies were so amazing?

They are amazing enough to get stuck on your teeth and make you look goofy when you smile!

Here's Poppa sipping on his sweet tea.

Hot dogs roasting and pudgy pies burning cooking.

Mmm, the smells of a hot camp fire.

Apparently the food was finger lickin' good!

It brought great joy to the people who consumed it. 

Just look how happy this kid is!

Of course someone had to teach the boys how to play 'chubby bunny' with the marshmallows.

I'm not sure who won. 

All I know is that I resisted the urge to join in.

Didn't want to show the boys up, you know?

I don't like crushing them in competitions.

They may not want to play anymore.

The other thing that just had to be done, was to put dead pine boughs on the fire and get it to climb higher and higher.  You know it is just natural for boys to want to burn things and make fires grow.  I'm not really sure how anyone taught boys to put out fires.  How did we ever get them to like putting out fires enough to actually create a career out of doing just that? When you think about it, it's a miracle we have firemen.  Now arson's on the other hand, it's not hard to figure out why there are those guys out there.  I'm kinda surprised there aren't more of them.

Can you hear them oohing as the flames are reflected in their eyes? And that smile of Seth's is a bit concerning, don't you think?

So is this expression. 

Can you say 'giddy', 'jubilant' or 'extatic'?

That's my boy!

This is my boy too. 

He likes to wear his food.

Saving it for later.

Or so I'm told.

This guy looks mesmerized as he stares into the flames.

Hunky Hubby likes playing with fire as much as the boys do.  But he also likes to have his picture taken as much as my Mom does.

However, I can usually get him to crack.

That's cause he loves me so much.

So, happy campfire dinners to you all too!

Thanks for stopping in,

Jana