Zoo trip..

Our trip to the zoo :)

Baby Number 4 is a....

It's a girl!! Violette Londyn - here belly is at 24 weeks!

We have some BIG news!! 3 things

3 things to announce!! 2 of them are the 2 feet we will be adding to our house around the end of December/beginning of January!!

No, we are not remodeling!! We're expecting baby #4!!

here he/she is, so tiny at 6 weeks 3 day we even got to see a heartbeat!

The 3rd big change is that we are also are going to school at home! Valerie will be doing first grade curriculum and Veronica 2nd grade. I am still in the research phase and searching out the perfect curriculum. I have some great reference materials to read, and some great homeschooling friends who have shared their experiences and referrals to some great programs. It will be crazy at first getting used to all the changes, but with the loving support of family and friends we can accomplish anything. So excited to share all this news!

Love,
The Vadons

Spring Break and Fun Things With the Kids

The girls got Our Generation 18" Dolls for Christmas. They are similar to the $105 American Girl brand dolls, except a lot cheaper, lol.
The girls like them a lot, and I have made them a bunch of things for their dolls, and they have helped me too! The accessories at the AG store are very pricey and we have got away with making things ourselves, or buying them elsewhere for much cheaper. They are saving their money to get a real AG doll from the store they are building here in Houston, it is set to open late summer. It is a good goal for them and it is helping teach them about money.

We spent a lot of time on spring break making clothes for their dolls. Veronica even made a small quilt last week, she sewed the top by herself, pictured below, the red and zebra print one.
Follow my board on Pinterest which can be found HERE, there are more links and other doll related pics etc.

I walked into Veronica's room and this is how "Sally" looked. Messy hair, messy bed, pizza, marshmallow on a stick and cookie (made from hand shaped white polymer clay, baked then painted) in her lap, lol! - I made the shelf into a clothing rack via blog post found HERE, and twisted some unused wire we had laying around into doll hangers. There is a plan on Ana White for a doll clothing wardrobe closet HERE which I plan to make in the future, but this one will do for now.
This is after a little fixing from mom. Note the mailbox also made by me, only cost a $1 in the Dollar isle at Target during Valentines, and scrap left over from when I made the beds. I made their doll beds, it only cost $11 for each one I made. You can find the plans HERE and you can make a more narrow "twin" size bed by omitting one "slat" and shortening the boards that are horizontal on the head and foot board. We followed the plans for a more "full size" bed look.
Check out some close ups of the clothing we made during spring break, this is (Veronica's) "Sally's" clothes. Knee high socks into doll tights/leggings (and a pair of socks too), Veronica cut and tried to sew the red top, I had to fix it up a little, and I made the blue matching top and pant set, looks comfy for sleep, huh! I used this free pattern download HERE for the blue shirt, no pattern for the pants, and used this HERE for the doll tights

Here is ms Valerie's doll, just relaxing, and her doll hanging shelf

I only had to sit her doll up to "fix it up" lol
Clothes made for Valerie's doll. (I also made the dress the doll has on in the pic above using the free pattern HERE ) Pink drawstring dress using the free pattern and tutorial HERE, and the flower short and shirt set using the blog post and free patterns HERE
pictures from when I first made the beds, and you can see the quilt, pillows and throw pillows etc I made for the beds.

The girls posing with their dolls
would love to share pics of the sock bunnies we made, and sock monkey we will be making. Check back for more pics later!

My Disney '09 Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Pinterest - Mini Cinnamon Rolls - MY easy twist

I found this cute, and yummy looking picture (below) on Pinterest (along with many many other combination of cute, cool, neat, fun - foods, crafts, projects, designs, etc etc I could go on for days on that site, and I know some have, lol). It is from Picky-Palate.com I love recipes that are easy, simple, and that I can customize to what I have already.
I didn't use fancy name specific biscuits, I just used what I had, which was store brand, plain basic 10 ct can of biscuits (there are so many things you can make with a basic can of biscuits, I should make a whole post of thing you can make with them). (it states at the bottom of the blog post that "*Disclaimer: I am part of the McCormick Real Gourmet Blogger Program and am being compensated" so that is probably why she put name brands next to the ingredients listed)
got out the tub "butter" since I knew it would be easy to spread, and I wouldn't have to wait for it to get soft/room temp like the recipe calls for.
you will also need light brown sugar, cinnamon, and I added a tad bit of white sugar as well, no measuring.
I mashed, patted, rolled out the biscuits to a nice flat-ish circle, used a spoon to spread the tub "butter", and after a couple of times I ended up using my finger to spread it around, since it was easier to get an even layer.
next I sprinkled brown sugar evenly over the tops, next white sugar, and last cinnamon.
next roll up the circles, and cut evenly, place on greased cookie sheet and baked at 350 for about 15minutes.after I mixed up some powdered sugar with some milk, couple tablespoons of powdered sugar, to very little milk, adding milk very little at a time to get desired consistancy, and drizzled over plated mini cinnamon rolls.
I hope these last until the girls get home, they are yummy. Vincent likes them, lol.
here he is last night before bedtime :)