Tonya Staab

Lady and the Blog: Watercolor Squirt Gun Painting

Being self-employed means working all the time. For the most part I can work around the kids' schedules, and pick and choose my hours, but even on vacation I'm still working. Some days that might mean I'm networking on social media, responding to emails, pitching ideas for campaigns, or I might be making something for dinner or doing a craft project that's for a client.

Last week while we were in Kentucky, Marisol and I headed outdoors with a big piece of fabric, lots of paint, and squirt guns and made this watercolor turtle art, that's now hanging in the front room of the house.

These are the work days that I love the most.

You can get all the details on how to do your own over at Lady and the Blog.

 

Make and Takes: Garden Stick Mobile

If you've got a kid who loves collecting sticks, then this project is for you.

This painted garden mobile is the perfect way to keep those sticks that kids collect, and create a fun project that can displayed in the garden or hanging from the patio.

Get all the details over at Make and Takes.

 

Lady and the Blog: Disney Pixar Incredibles 2 T-shirts

The twins' have a half day at school on Thursday (only three more days left until summer break begins), so we are heading off to see a media screening of the new Incredibles 2 that will be in theaters on June 15th ... be sure to check out my Insta Stories because I'm sure to post photos of us at the screening.  Although Flynn won't be wearing his new shirt, unfortunately because we'll be going straight from school where they are having a toga party/lunch to finish off a unit in Social Science. I think three outfit changes that day might just do him in.

But, I hope you will all be seeing the new movie when it hits theaters, and if you do, have the kids make their own t-shirts to wear ... in fact, you can make them for the whole family.

I'm showing you how to turn coloring pages into t-shirt transfers over at Lady and the Blog today. Head on over to grab my tutorial. This is a great summer activity for the kids.

Preserve the Moment: Fishing at Oceanside Pier

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Everywhere Agency on behalf of FoodSaver®; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

My boys love fishing. It's not just about the fishing though, it's about the bonding. Mike could happily spend hours just sitting on the side of a river or lake listening to the water with a fishing rod next to him with no bait on the line. He finds it so relaxing. So, he bought Flynn his very first fishing rod over summer last year. Flynn had been wanting to go fishing for years, but let's face it, I'm just no good at it and would need lessons before I even considered taking him, so this was the perfect way for the guys to bond and spend quality time together. They fished in the pond at the house in Kentucky, and then, we hired Mike's fishing guide to take us out onto Lake Cumberland for a fun day of fishing. Since then, the boys have been fishing as often as they can. Jayden hadn't been fishing though since my dad took him a few years ago during a trip to Australia. Unfortunately, with his work and college schedule, he hasn't always been able to make the trips with us. This summer though, we plan on fishing a lot with both boys.

 

Mike and I bought both the boys their own fishing rods recently to keep here at the house in California, so one day after school, and when Jay didn't have to work, we headed down to Oceanside Pier for an afternoon of fishing. We had tried to go here a couple of times before but we all finally found ourselves with a free afternoon and the weather was perfect, it was overcast and cool, with the bonus of the local night market happening so we could grab a quick dinner afterward.

Lady And The Blog: Hotel Transylvania 3 Slime

You guys know how much I love to craft ... I'm pretty much always up to my elbows in hot glue burns, glitter, and paint. Well, I'll be sharing fun weekly craft projects over at my friend Vera Sweeney's blog for a while.

My first one is up today, and aren't these slime containers inspired by the new Hotel Transylvania 3 just too cute?

Head on over to check it out, and say hello. 

 

Enjoy a Peter Rabbit Themed Movie Night with Kids

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WelcomeToFamilyNight #PeterRabbit #CollectiveBias

A couple of weekends ago Flynn really wanted me to take him to see Peter Rabbit at the movie theater. But, there was a fantastic art festival happening that same day, so I took the kids to that instead. So, I surprised him with a fun Peter Rabbit family movie afternoon earlier this week after school. He then watched the movie three times in a row. He would have watched it a fourth time, but I reminded him that it was a school night and he had to get to bed.

 

To set up a fun themed movie night doesn't take a lot of time or effort, it's all in the little details which I'll show you below.

My kids love chocolate milk as a treat. I don't buy it often, but for a fun movie night, I thought it would be perfect. I wanted to dress it up a little though. Anyone can pour chocolate milk into a glass, but I added these adorable bunny tail stirrers to ours and put the milk in small milk bottles.