Photo Dump Wednesday: New Year and beyond

The year is off to an awesome start. In spite of the current political situation, I am feeling very hopeful and optimistic about 2017. 

To kick off the new year, J took his girls out for lunch and a movie. 

We had a great time. 

Car selfie...

At lunch. 

We saw the movie Sing on December 30th. It was a cute movie but I think some of the humor was more geared towards an older audience. Plus JAE who is often all about the movies fell asleep so clearly, it didn't captivate her like Moana did. 

Check out my baby. I can't believe how fast she is growing. Here she is watching her daddy make his NFL player picks on his game.

Sunday car selfie. First Sunday service of the new year...JOE was excited to go back to Sunday School. 

Incase you haven't visited lately, I have added quite a few items to AyoBE Boutique. Go check it out! And be sure to use code "AYOBE10" to receive 10% off your purchase. 

These lip balm holders are perfect for the cold weather. You don't have to go digging in your purse anymore for them. You can just hook these up to your purse or key chain or lanyard and be good to go!

For that little girl in your life. We now have doll clothing. Your little one can now play "fashion match" with her doll!

I've been working really hard on my weight. Some days I win, other days, I call it a draw and some days are a bust. BUT most days, I am thankful for this body that has helped carry 2 human beings! Women, our bodies are AWESOME!!!
On this particular morning, I was feeling great! AND to make it even more interesting, while at Walmart doing our household shopping, I got hit on and asked for my number! LOL..I told him I was married and he asked "you sure?" 😩. Ummmm...YES!!! 
Still funny though.

I have been posting my workout on instagram as a way to stay accountable. It really helps keep me motivated. So glad J and I decided to get this at home. It makes it VERY convenient to exercise. No excuses.

JAE received this for Christmas from my sister. We couldn't travel with it so my sister had it shipped to us. The minute it arrived and J put it together, she hopped on there and started using it. She really likes it and it entertains her. Fun and learning at the same time. SCORE!

Since I get up early for work, the kids are often sleeping when I am about to leave. One morning last week, while getting ready, I turned around and saw JAE like this. It was too cute! I just had to take a picture. I guess she was deep in thoughts. Plotting how to take over the world perhaps?

I have been trying out a new product on my hair. I've been using the cantu beauty leave in conditioner (after washing) and coconut curling cream (every 3-4 days). So far, I am loving the results. It gets my hair soft and my curls more defined. HOWEVER, it also feels a little heavy. But not enough to bother me. Just heavy enough for me to notice.

One of the pages I follow on FB posted this last week. It was so needed at that moment that I decided to do a screen shot to remind myself often of this. 

My pastor always says "don't be jealous of your neighbor when they are getting blessed because that means God is in the neighborhood and your turn is coming." This was so point on!

Told you 2017 is going to be an awesome year!

Me and my little honey bunches. She was trying to smile or growl. Not sure which one. Snapchat filters has my child growling everytime I say selfie!

And my little JOE always keeps me entertained. She loves to play dress up. This was her "doctor Jordan handy Manny outfit". Thanks Disney Jr.!

These kids! J and I were trying to have some quiet time and just cuddle on the couch while watching TV. But these kids were NOT having it. They decided being ON us was the best way to spend the time. 

And my little Geisha. The cutest Geisha I have ever seen. She said "mommy look, I am a princess!" Yes she is :-D.

Opened 4 fortune cookies on Saturday and got this. Hey, told ya it was going to be an awesome year!

Car selfie. #churchflow

JOE was sick for the last couple of weeks with a cold. She is on her way to a full recovery. But not before passing it on to JAE. Oh the joys...my little JAE cuddled up with her daddy.

Oh and check out the picture right above J's head. We FINALLY put up JAE's first birthday picture. I mean, she is almost 2 afterall so it was definitely time to put it up :-).

On Monday, all 3 girls had a dentist appointment. J had to work so I had both girls with me. JOE was awesome and enjoyed the experience. This was her 3rd visit so she is a pro at this. 

JAE on the other hand was NOT letting the dentist look in her mouth. I guess we'll be back in another 6-months to check her out. 

It has been an awesome week so far. Regardless of how you feel about the Inauguration, remember that GOD is ALWAYS in control!

Have a fabulously blessed week and remember to be kind to strangers.

DIY: The making of a PJ Masks Catboy skirt

I can't believe it has taken me this long to blog this. 

 For JOE's birthday last year, she told me she wanted a PJ Masks party. And she wanted to be Catboy because Catboy is the leader. 

Because Catboy is a male character, I had to go searching for something that would work for her. I couldn't find anything so I decided to make my own. 

The first thing I did was to order this shirt from JCPenney. It was on sale for $9.99 so I was happy to get it.   
 

Then I went shopping at Walmart for fat quarter fabric in a mix of different shades of blue. Each fat quarter was 99c. I got a total of 6. 3 of each shade.

First thing I did was lay it all down as seen below. Since I got fat quarters, with the exception of the tool which I had to cut into squares, I didn't have to cut the other fabric.

I already had the blue tulle at home from AyoBE Boutique so I just decided to use it since it worked. 
The vision for the skirt came from this skirt on Pinterest. It is a handkerchief skirt. 

I basically cut a quarter-circle in the middle of the skirt after I folded it in half and then re-folded that half again. When one half was unfolded, this is what it looked like. 

Don't fret about the actual size of the semi-circle. What is important is that you not make it too small. The actual size that matters is the size of the elastic waist. For that, I took my daughter's waist size and reduced it by 2 inches to account for the elastic and then added 1 inch for seam allowance. In other words, if her waist is 19 inches, I cut the elastic to 18-inches. Basically, 17 plus 1. Putting the final size at 17 inches. The elastic gives enough of a stretch to ensure it stays put but still fits nicely.
 

My daughter's party was at Skye zone which means she'd be jumping a lot. So I decided to make an underskirt bloomer for her. Instead of putting the elastic on the bloomer itself, I attached it to the elastic on the skirt.

  
The end results.

She loved it so much that she wanted to wear it the same day I finished the skirt.

Strike a pose!

If you are wondering how the outfit came about, the top left is the vision I had in mine. The top right is how I put it together before I finished it. The bottom left is the process and the bottom right is the final outcome. Not bad huh?

Her total outfit cost less than $20. And she LOVED it!!!

You can see more of her birthday celebration here. 
 

This was a pretty easy skirt and I am very much looking forward to taking on the challenge for JAE's birthday party in April. Although, I don't think I'll be making her outfit since there are TONS of Sofia the first outfits out there to choose from.

Photo Dump Wednesday: 2016 Christmas Celebration

Happy New Week! I know I am very late on this but I definitely want to share our 2016 Christmas festivities with you. 

We had an awesome Christmas celebration. 

As usual, we had a celebration with J's family the weekend before. And then the week of, we had our own little family celebration. While J got the kids ready for bed that evening, I set up and put all the presents under the tree. Then when they came down, I told them santa delivered their presents early because he knew they'd be out of town :-). Although, I don't think JOE believes in santa! :-(. Oh well...

Here's our tree...  

"Santa" (J) did well. He got me the fitbit I wanted...

And my very own tight-end! Check out my Gronk ornament! He is the tight end for the New England Patriots. My home team :-D. The winning team...anyways, I digress...

The next day, our child care provider wasn't feeling well and J had to do a TV interview so he couldn't watch the kids. So on his way into work, be dropped them off with me. Since it was a relatively easy day being the day before the Christmas break, it was practically empty here. Although, JOE and JAE got a chance to meet some of my co-workers. They enjoyed it. 

The next day, we headed off to ATL to begin the Christmas celebration. The girls often travel well. Except for when JAE decides that she should have the window seat and not JOE. 
They got these new cool headphones for Christmas and it was so nice. All you do is plug on headphone into the device and then connect the other headphone to the first one. That way, they can both listen to the same show BUT have separate headphones. It also folds very well. LOVE THEM!

In ATL. My nephew and JAE playing a video game. FUN FUN! Check out the height difference!

Christmas Sunday. We had a great time. As you can see, I couldn't figure out what to do with my hair. 

While at Church, JAE let JOE "carry" and cuddle with her. It was too cute! I just had to take a picture since this is often a rare thing. 

The protective dad...making sure JOE doesn't drop his baby :-).

After Church. Before we started opening presents and before the eating began. 
I'm wearing an AyoBE Boutique tee. It reads "Rooted in Christ". I LOVE it!

My newest nephew D. This kid is just so cool! He hardly cries and will give you THE CUTEST smile ever! He is truly the definition of "chill". And his gray eyes are just so captivating...oh and yeah...that's an AyoBE Boutique pacifier holder. One of his favs :-).

Then chaos ensued! The kids got to open their presents...

Little D and his parents...

Then it was time to eat eat eat! No celebration is complete without tasty jollof rice and stewed beef! YUM YUM!!!

Me and my mini me making faces...

And my little princess elf. 

And our matching pajamas pic of the family. Last year, we wore our matching PJs and won the family game. This year, we figured it would help us win...but it didn't...

My beautiful mom!

And my handsome dad!

My parents with their youngest grandchid. 

Every year, my family plays a game after all of the eating and festivities are over. Last year, we won! This year, we came second. We are all FIERCELY competitive. But it is always so much fun to watch everyone banter (jokingly of course) and try to win. 

My sister and brother in law (the host family). They were really good but I attributed that to the fact that their kids are older and as such, can help them more.

Watching the game intensely.

We played for this trophy as well as other prizes.

My brother was hilarious and had us laughing THE ENTIRE time!

My sister in law, nephew and mom. Clearly, they were also entertained.

The youngings watching...

I can't believe my parents actually won! So the non married siblings got to be on my parent's team. And they actually won! Last year, they came last. So this was definitely a fun win for them.

The 1st from behind team. They graciously accepted their "win".

Even my nephew couldn't hold a straight face.

Then it was our turn. J kept talking...

And talking...notice he is holding the trophy...

My sister anxiously waiting for the trophy...

But J would not be deterred. He kept going...

And going...it was so funny!

Yup...he's still there...Wanna guess what he does for a living?

You guessed it...

My sister hoping she would get the trophy at some point...

Almost there...

FINALLY! They have it...

The victors giving their victory speech.

They were so happy! Considering NO ONE thought they'd win. This was very funny and special.

Even they thought it was funny.

Doing the happy dance!

We're still smiling. We won another Roku device. Which will go into our basement. WOOHOO!!!

Check out JAE in the corner. She took a nap and woke up during this game. She was actually able to sleep in the midst of the loud noise.

The final score board.

The next day, we went to Six Flags to see the lights. It was a fun time as well.

US...

The gracious host family! These kids are rock stars in my book. I love them so much! And my sister and brother in law as well. Who am I kidding? I love my entire family so much it hurts sometimes!

J and my older brother in the stroller. Ummm??? Yeah...no words. And check out my  niece looking at her dad like "WTH dad!".

All of us. The kids that is. My parents needed a bit of break so they stayed behind at my sisters'. An updated family picture is definitely going to be done this year in DC.

Our munchkins.

JAE and JOE riding the copter. They LOVED it!

Me and my sisters. I love them so...these women are just THE BEST! Oh and my nephew too is pretty awesome.

Clearly, D was tired of the pictures.

And more pictures...

I love this sign. It reads "68% on-time deliveries guaranteed!" I hope no one operates their business like that.

More rides.

J and his girl JOE. These 2...

Definitely an awesome day spent with family.

Before you know it, it was time to head back home.

Enjoying their movie...Finding Dory...a gift from their grammy and g-dad.

A gift from my sister. The girls got a "pretend castle". The love playing in it.

The next day, I decided to get back to working out since I slacked off most of the prior 2 weeks. I got on the bike and this is what happened. I put on a DVD for them and since the workout area is not far, I figured they'd be entertained. NOOOOOO....This is what happened...one lying right next to my bike and screaming her head off while I tried to ride and the other playing with the weights and asking me to watch her to see her muscles!
No fear. I still completed my workout. I am trying this year to focus more on my health. I am no good to my family if I am not healthy.

Finished! Notice the iPAD on the floor. They were supposed to be watching that. But why watch the iPAD when you can play with workout equipment?

I love that JAE is always eager to model something for me. Here she is trying on the new satin lined headband I made.

And of course, JOE wanted in on it too.

These headbands are a perfect way to accessorize without doing too much. AND they are satin lined which means it won't pull on your hair. Win-win!

I hope you enjoyed reading the recap of our 2016 Christmas celebration. My sister did a FABULOUS job hosting and ensuring that everyone stayed entertained. 

 This year, we are the host family. We are very much looking forward to hosting everyone and as a Project Manager, I have already started my list of activities and other things in preparation. 

But first, I need to begin prepping for a Sofia Party! Yup...JAE's 2nd party is coming up and she wants a Sofia party. FUN FUN! Off to Pinterest I go...

Have a fabulous rest of the week and always remember to be kind to strangers.