CRAFTY FUN with my Mom!!

THIS TOOL is my NEW best friend ladies (and gentlemen if you are reading this too) It is the Tulip Cordless Heat Setting Tool. And the little circle dispenser next to it is FULL of Tulip Glam-It-Up Iron-On Crystals. Let me explain just why iLOVE this new tool SO much...

I have a little girl, and that little girl has LOTS of hair bows. MANY of which myself or her grandmother has purchased. When I am paying $10.00 plus dollars for a bow; I began to think ~ MAN it would be GREAT to be able to MAKE my own bows. So when I was introduced to this tool I was SURE it would make "LIFE" easier in my CRAFTY-NESS... So I headed to the store and got the ribbon I needed.

I wanted to make bows to match Hailey's 4th of July Dress. Hence the Red White and Blue. I took the two bigger ribbons and folded them just like a regular bow. I then took the smaller ribbon and hot glued it around the two bigger ribbon bows. THEN I used my new tool to add a little GLAM to the bows... 

I have attempted to put crystals on other items before. When I did it last time I had to place glue on the crystal, place the crystal on the item I wanted, then try SO hard to move it to where I wanted. THEN clean up the extra glue mess... not to mention TRYING not to be frustrated with it not being exactly where I wanted it to be... UGH it was NOT fun!

With the Tulip Cordless Heat Setting Tool it was SO much easier. I turned on the tool and held the button to have it warm up. (10 seconds) Side note: DO NOT TOUCH the tip, it says so on the instructions, but I wanted to make sure it was heating up... I PROMISE IF THE RED LIGHT IS ON, IT IS HOT! Next, I used some tweezers to place the crystal where I wanted them on the ribbon. These crystals come with glue ALREADY on the back. Then I took the Tool and held it on the crystal for about 10 seconds. When I took the tool off it was IN place! No having to move it, No extra glue to get rid of... PERFECTION!!

I made TWO bows because they were too easy. I attached them to hair clips and my little girl bows were DONE!

Aren't those little Crystals SO cute?

After making ADORABLE bows I decided I wanted to have the BIG FLOWERS for my little girl. These are becoming very popular right now. I went to the store and got some flowers. (try the dollar store first)

Then I pulled the flowers apart . . .

Then I alternated colors hot gluing them back together in the middle. This time I used the Tulip Glam-It-Up Iron-on Studs as the fashion embellishment to my project. I used the cordless heat tool the same way, and LOVED how this one turned out . . . the stud colors matched the flower colors perfectly!

Then I put Crystals on a Flower Hair accessory and it was just SO cute! I put a 5mm size crystal in the middle then the 3mm size all around it. OH HOW I LOVE SPARKLY THINGS!

I just again hot glued clips on the back, and these babies are READY to be worn!

I am SO excited about the ENDLESS possibilities I have with these products!

Let me know if you need more info on the steps, I'd be happy to help!!

Check the iLoveToCreate.com website for the FABULOUS GLAM STUFF!

BIRTHDAY and FATHERS DAY

As you all know by now Matt turned the big 30 this last week. I would not be a good wife if I did not do something special for his BIG day, so I HAD planned on throwing him a

SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

(thanks to those of you for understanding when the plans changed unexpectedly) 

So I had to JUMP into WHAT DO I DO NOW TO SURPRISE him for his big day??

WELL, I started the day off with Breakfast Hot and Ready for him right before he left for work.

Many of you might think this is a little task... But THINK AGAIN... Ugh, Matt leaves for work at 5:50 a.m. so It is a BIG deal getting up early for him to make him Banana Pancakes one of his FAVORITES!!

 

EVER had them?? They are SOOOO good!!

So then I decided we could stop off at his work and take him a little something.

So we made a poster for him that the kids colored of course, and we headed to the store to get him some goodies. After making it out alive with two kids by myself we headed to his work . . .

MOST people in Fresno recognize this place. Every time we drive up to it, or by it the kids get SO excited because they remember the carnival at Daddy's work.

Landon got a little wrapped up on his balloon, don't worry after I got a good chuckle and this cute picture I helped him out.

And Matt was VERY surprised. Barbara at the Main Office front desk was great about getting Matt to get to the front. I think he liked it. We learned that one of the people who helped start the business Bob Duncan celebrated his 89th birthday today as well. Matt is in good company with his birthday. I got to meet all the ladies from the Internet and Marketing Department, and it was a GREAT trip. The kids LOVED getting candy from Grandma Barbara and enjoyed the attention they got.

(not like they don't get it all the time anyway)

Hailey picked out this Balloon for Matt. It was a STAR, and it was Blue she told me. When I told her what it said she would not let it go! She wanted it for Matt for sure!

And Landon picked this one out. I gave him a Happy Birthday Balloon, and this Over the Hill as options. I have to admit I was glad he picked this one! SO CUTE! Matt got 2 Fresno State Football Season Tickets for his birthday again. It has become a tradition. He also got Italian Icee Freezer sticks and Sour Jelly Belly Candies with the balloons from the kids.

For Father's Day Matt got the Speakers on the Boat. Have I told you this story?? He bought them himself a few months ago, so I said GREAT now I don't have to plan ANY presents for you this year!! He makes my life SO easy that way!! He also got a shirt I made with Stuff from his work, I'll have a WHOLE other blog for that though... something for you to look forward too!! :)

I hope he had a GREAT weekend.

On Saturday he went White Water Rafting down the American River with his brothers and father. I think this WAS a great weekend!!

Fun in the Sun ~

We were asked by a friend of ours Travis Cluff (most of you know him as the guy who won WIPEOUT last year~ Super Shorts) to share our boat with his buddies that he works with. They offered to pay for everything and feed us if we lend our boat and our time... we are ALWAYS down for a free boat trip so last week we packed up the kids and headed to Millerton for the afternoon.

Hailey LOVED collecting the rocks on the beach... this is her counting them.

This is Trey (Travis and Amber's youngest son) doing a mermaid pose.

Check out that FULL DIAPER!!

And here is our Water Baby. Landon LOVED playing with Matt in the water.

He would LAY back and just relax . . .

He was having a BALL!! And Matt was loving his little man loving the water!

I think the kids single handedly ate HALF the watermelon that was there.

Landon LOVES watermelon! He was willing to share with me too... What a sweetie!

We had a GREAT time, and we look forward to hanging out again.

Good Times Great People!!

USA vs. Slovenia

This was QUITE possibly THE WORST REFFING I HAVE EVER SEEN!!

I am POSITIVE he was paid off by someone to THROW the USA game.

TOO bad he was only able to guarantee a 2-2 draw... WHAT A DOOOOSH!

Slovenia got two easy goals in the first half. I am STILL trying to figure out how both got by Howard. The first goal he was off his line, and he did not even put his hands up to defend the goal. It was like he just stood there watching the ball hit the back of the net. The forward in my says That was a GREAT shot, but I still think it was a lucky one. The second Slovenia goal came towards the end of the half and there was a breakdown in the backfield. I thought Howard should have had that one as well, but he make other BRILLIANT saves so I will let that one slide. THEN the USA team came out ready to take the win. It was like they were a different team the second half. They were getting really good shots on goal, and GREAT plays were being made. Then Donovan got a goal that seamed impossible!! He was at the top of his game today. Bradley was EVERYWHERE, that guy is a BEAST! He was defending goals and ended up scoring the goal to tie! We got SO many bad calls during the game. A yellow on Findley for a hand ball when it hit his face... that takes him out of the third game because he had a yellow from the first game. Then a bunch of tick-tacky normal soccer play BAD calls... MOST against the USA. He sure called it fair for Slovenia, but SURE got it wrong when he called things on the USA. The last call was the worst, I would recap it for you but I found this this article that says it the best . . .

Landon Donovan insisted the Americans had a historic victory “stolen” from them after their dramatic World Cup comeback to tie Slovenia 2-2 at Ellis Park on Friday.Donovan criticized referee Koman Coulibaly, claiming the Malian official had incorrectly disallowed an 86th-minute goal by Maurice Edu that would have given the United States an incredible comeback victory.
“They [the officials] stole a goal from us,” said Donovan, who launched the U.S. revival with a brilliant strike at the start of the second half. “It was a good finish and a good goal.
”It was the guy’s [Coulibaly’s] first World Cup and maybe he got caught up a bit. This is the World Cup and you can’t just take away a goal from a team like that."
With the Slovenian defense tiring rapidly, Edu made a strong run and connected with Donovan’s free kick from the right, sending the ball past Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. However, as the U.S. players began to celebrate wildly, the referee blew his whistle and awarded Slovenia a free kick for what he perceived to be foul play inside the penalty area.
“When I struck the ball and saw it go in the net I didn’t think there was any possibility it would not be allowed,” said Edu, who came on as a half-time substitute. “The guys were very angry because we felt we’d had a fair goal taken away.”
The team converged on Coulibaly and also surrounded him at the end of the game. An irate Jozy Altidore ranted at the referee and was pulled away by teammates Herculez Gomez and Benny Feilhaber before his comments landed him in trouble.
“I guess it just wasn’t to be,” Donovan said. “I am assuming it was a foul somewhere. We asked the ref many times who the foul was and he couldn’t explain it. I don’t know what to think about it, I can’t explain it and I don’t know how there was a call. We asked him numerous times in a non-confrontational manner and he just ignored us or didn’t understand.”
Yahoo! Sports approached referee Coulibaly as he left the stadium, but the official refused to make any comment on his decision. Even nearly an hour after the end of the game, there was confusion in the American camp as to what the exact nature of the foul the referee had seen.
“From what I am hearing there were a lot of fouls being committed there by Slovenia players,” U.S. head coach Bob Bradley said. “Michael [Bradley] was being held and he tried to free himself and got called. We think that is what it was, but we are not sure.”
The U.S. looked set to be pushed to the verge of World Cup elimination when it went two goals down in the first half after strikes from Valter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankic. But goals from Donovan and Michael Bradley got the Americans back into the game and set up the chance to pull off a miraculous recovery.
HE STOLE THE GAME...
HE USED HIS "POWER" to STEAL THE GAME...
I would like to start a petition to NOT allow ROOKIE Ref's like this idiot to be a deciding factor in the World Cup Games.
Koman Coulibaly I will never forget your name... KARMA dude... I hope it gets you GOOD!

OLD MAN ~

We make a good couple... RIGHT? HAHA!

Looking at our pictures (we took these for the gift for my parents I PROMISE to tell you about soon) I laugh because Matt is so laid back easy going "Chaps button down shirt stand up striaght", and I am "WILD in my giraffe shirt sassy pose"... anyone who know us would say that is SO US!

MY MAN is 30 today!! And I LOVE IT!

To HONOR him I am going to let you know the 30 top things I LOVE about him . . .

1. His smile. He hates being forced to smile... when we got married he asked people to make him laugh because he can't smile fake for that long as he put it . . .

2. His attitude. He is the most STUBBORN easy going person I know. He wants to get out on the boat SO BAD he would do anything, but is SO easy going about it once we get out there. But really he has the best attitude I know. I mean COME ON, he puts up with ME!!

3. His DRIVE to THRIVE. Matt has been laid of TWICE in the last two years. Those of you who don't know about being laid off, IT TAKES ALOT out of someone. Matt was determined not to let the bad economy let him down, and that is why we are who we are today!!

4. His Laugh. It is contagious. He laughs about STUPID things and it just makes me laugh as well!

5. How he treats his kids. Mommy does not always have the PATIENCE needed for the children and there tempers. Matt is almost ALWAYS calm and loving. When he gets home from work their eyes light up and they run for the door to greet DADDY! He may not be on top of every little thing, but he is the BEST loving example to his children, and they will always have that!

6. His determination. Like I said before he is willing to do anything to get out on the boat. His determination gets us to do things I would never do myself and I love that... most of the time.

7. How he sings in the shower. When we were first married Matt would sing RANDOMLY some stupid made up song about me. It would usually be making fun of me, but I still liked it. Now he sings about Hailey going to the potty, or Landon's poopy diaper... he could be a song writer the way he comes up with lyrics!

8. How he helps around the house when he wants something. I always know Matt wants something when he willingly does things around the house without me asking for his help. This has been a work in progress, but he is getting REALLY good at getting what he wants.

9. How he surprises me. Like just recently getting a room for the night after my High School Reunion, or when he brings home flowers or CANDY!

10. How he acts when we fight. I have to admit my friends, when we fight I get MEAN! Matt never brings up the past or says "naughty" words to me. He fights fair and ONE day I will follow his lead.

11. How he asked me to marry him. YES I am the most OBLIVIOUS person in the world. He came down from BYU-I with a friend for a weekend to just hang out. Or at least when he told me that I believed him, and was SHOCKED when he asked me to marry him!! He took me to Old Sacramento where we had our first date, and he planned to ask me while we got a character drawing done like we did on another date we had in Old Sac. LONG story short people were lining up all around the guy drawing because they could see what he was drawing (me thinking MAN lots of people want to get their picture drawn) when the guy asks if I want to see our picture I say sure. He turns it and I see a ring between us, when I turn to look at Matt and get his reaction to THE RING he is down on his knee with a tear in his eye trying to get out " Melissa Andersen, WILL YOU MARRY ME?" I GRAB the ring, put it on SHOCKED obviously then look around at everyone realizing I have not said anything then say "Oh... YES!" CLASSIC Matt and Melissa!

12. And that leads to me LOVING his sensitive side. He is SO queued into the things I need, he just listens when I have had a bad day, and gives me a shoulder to cry on. This last mothers day he treated me like a QUEEN!

13. He will and can cry. I love when men can show their true emotion. I have dated guys who had to always be tough. But with Matt he is the perfect amount of tough and ready to cry with me.

14. He CAN Dance. WHITE BOY CAN DANCE. That is my ULTIMATE turn on!! He is a BLAST to go dancing with because he does not care what other people think. Nor does he need to because WHITE BOY CAN DANCE!! At my reunion there were 4 girls out on the dance floor and MY MAN! NO WORRIES~ just ready and willing to have a GOOD TIME!

15. HALF WAY THERE... His LOVE of soccer. I doubt he blinked an eye about soccer before he meet me. But he went to all my games when we dated, and will watch matches with me throughout the year. He was as happy as I was that the World Cup was starting. He knows all the players on the USA team, and roots for them RIGHT with me! LOVE!

16. How he folds laundry. It is a HOT mess, but he folds it. I used to RE-DO it MY way, but I have learned to LOVE the way he folds stuff.

17. When he takes out the garbage or mowed the lawn. There are "men jobs" and he does the MEN jobs.

18. When he kills the spiders EVEN though I am FULLY able TO DO IT when he is not around. (shhhhh don't tell him) I love that I can call to him and he comes running with a paper towel in hand to kill it. He will sometimes say "Why don't you just get it, and I will say ~ BECAUSE you are home hunny, and that is a "man job". And YES I kill anything that comes into my house, don't judge me. If I let them outside nicely they will just return with friends later...

19. How he wakes up early on Saturday and sometimes Sunday and makes breakfast for us all. It is a SWEET blessing to wake up to breakfast cooking and YOU are not the one making it EVERY DAY ALL DAY LONG!!!

20. His "swagga" need I say more??

21. His asthma... funny thing to love right? But it is just too cute sometimes when he tells me he needs his Inhaler. I joke "I need my puffer!" to him. When we were dating he came over and we got into a BIG fight, I told him to leave, and not half an hour later he was back because he was having an asthma attack. I had to help him calm down and get his breathing under control. It was REAL scary for me, but it was important for me to see my "crazy girl" stuff had an impact on him.

22. His HUMOR. This man has a humor like NONE OTHER. I think he is funny most of the time, but he knows how to work a crowd. Most people would be offended at out humor, but Matt and I just get each other!

23. His ability to learn. When we were first married he told me he was HORRIBLE in High School. He BARLEY graduated, and he is dyslexic. When he went to college something just CLICKED and he KNEW he needed to further his education. He was just a lazy kid, he learned everything, he just did not do homework and slacked off. But he graduated from Fresno State, and was on the Deans List MULTIPLE times. I am FOREVER grateful that my husband has a degree. It is needed in times like these. We have been lucky to only be out of work for short periods of time because he was dedicated to further his education and become a GREAT Engineer!

24. His OTHER ability to learn. Not that I trained my husband... but I kinda did. He learned that we needed to SAVE our money to be able to do fun things. He learned that we did not have to have the BIGGEST and BEST things, just the things that will get us by. He has learned MANY things from me, and vice versa.

25. His research ability. If you want a deal YOU want Matthew Bird searching it out. I LOVE this when it comes to OUR little family. But it gets to be a little too much when other people want him researching a deal for them. I MARRIED HIM, get your own!!

26. His love of the Gospel. He is a returned missionary, and a STRONG member. We attend church EVERY week. Sometimes we are at another ward, or we only get Sacrament when the kids are sick, but we do not duck out all together without REALLY good reason. He helps me understand things when we are reading the scriptures, and he KNOWS why we are here. We may not be the most "holy people" you ever know, but we are the funnest Mormons ever!

27. His love for his (first) family. He cares about EVERY single person. He has a special place in his heart for all his siblings and both his parents. We are thankful for the example they are to us and for each of them being SO different! They bring a new light to our eyes about what family is all about.

28. His love for his (second) family. I always worried what it would be like for IN-LAWS in my family. 5 girls means 5 husbands HAVING to get along with 5 crazy sisters. Not to mention a little brother in the mix . . . Matt was the first brother to marry into my family, and he was accepted from day one. He LOVED spending time at my parents house when we were dating, and I think he loves it even more now because we have HELP with the kids on vacation!! He truly has opened a special place in his heart for my family, and that makes me love him SO much.

29.  His LOVE for me. He is SO caring, and SO sweet to me. There is not a day that goes by that I worry about how much he loves me. He lets me know on a daily basis by not only telling me, but by showing me. We have sure had our ups and downs, but those times have made us REALLY LOVE each other. THANK YOU MATT FOR LOVING ME, it really is what keeps me going when things get tough.

30. And last but not least... I love HIM!! ALL OF HIM!! From his feet that need a pedicure SO bad to the top of his adorable balding head. He is the LOVE of my LIFE and without him I would not be the same. I know that we will be together forever, and I am SO thankful for that! Like the saying goes "We may not have it all together, but TOGETHER we have it all!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTY!

May ALL your dreams come true!!

WEDNESDAY CRAFTS ~

So you all know that Matt works for Duncan Enterprises AKA Duncan Ceramics AKA iLoveToCreate.com ... RIGHT?

But did you know that I am going to benefit as well from his job? I mean OBVIOUSLY I benefit because my husband gets to work for a great local company and LOVES his job; but I also get to benefit because they are a CRAFT company.
Hello, my name is Melissa Andersen Bird and I am ADDICTED to doing craft projects!
Apparently me blogging about him getting the job and us being SO excited about it caught the attention of the marketing department. Matt was approached at work about my blog because I used the iLoveToCreate.com link and they get alerted whenever people are "talking" about them.
To make a long story short I got some "S.W.A.G." from the company to Play with and Blog about.
Matt brought me home the "Care Package" last Friday and I was SO excited about all the toys I got!
CHECK THIS STUFF OUT . . .


So what CRAFT do I do first??
I better get to the store and get some clothes we can play with!!
ANYONE ELSE WANNA PLAY WITH ME??

WORLD CUP 2010 SOUTH AFRICA ~

Can you believe I have not posted about THIS yet . . .

I know RIGHT?? ARE YOU READY??

 I sure am! I have been waiting SO patiently after USA got into the FIFA World Cup last year.

And it has arrived. Matt and I have watched EVERY game so far.

Here is the first goal of the World Cup... appropriately South Africa's TSHABALALA(sha-be-lala)

got the first goal over Mexico. They ended with a tie 1-1.

And HERE is two of my favorite people in the soccer world...

Landon Donovan and head coach Bob Bradley.

There has been SO much trash talk about the England vs. USA game.

England said they were going to SMASH USA and the other teams in the group.

Well... too bad they did not SMASH us. We also tied 1-1.

I have to admit I was SOOOOO happy they tied!!

I had butterflies in my stomach at the start of the game... because this how it all happened...

3:35 in - Steven Gerrard is left all alone and slips into the box for an easy goal. Absolutely crushing for the United States. Still early enough where you can't panic but also you need to attack a little more now. That goal happened because Ricardo Clark stopped marking Gerrard all together. Letting him run into the box free. Horrible defense. England up 1-0.

THEN

39:30 in - Clint Dempsey just blasted one low that Green could not handle. That should have been stopped. USA 1 - England 1. There have been a lot of questions with the English Goal Tending and for good reason it seems.

THAT WAS THE LONGEST 40 MINUTES OF MY LIFE . . . at least it felt that way. The rest of the game was the longest 50+ minutes of my life... PLEASE just end in a tie!!
THANK GOODNESS!! I'll keep you posted as USA continues on!!

Clovis Carnival ~

We went to the Sierra Vista Mall on Friday to get a movie ticket for the Twilight Trilogy for me, and we saw they were setting up for a little carnival in the parking lot. We knew the kids would enjoy going to the carnival, so we threw them in the stroller Saturday night and headed down the street to the Clovis Carnival. The kids were just staring at all the lights as we walked up . . .

When we got in, Hailey decided she had her heart set on riding a ride.

She choose the Air Balloon Ride. She was tall enough to ride it alone, but we decided we better be safe and have one of us go... LUCKY ME! ~

It just so happened that the ride she choose was from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch . . .

She loved spinning the balloon before the ride started, and besides being a little scared she really enjoyed the ride. I had to pry her fingers off the ride when we were done she wanted to ride again!

After walking around for a while and letting the kids dance to the music and play a few games we headed home. Half way home Landon was OUT for the count . . . by the time we got home Hailey was OUT too!

We really enjoy taking the kids to fun little things, and we hope they enjoy them too!!

House Update

We did not get the house..... BOOHOO!!!!
It is OK, but BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Matt and I are telling ourselves that there is something wrong with it we can not see because is has been in escrow twice before and fell out... BACK to the drawing board!! :) We are looking at houses TODAY!! Wish us luck! ~

Hailey Loves to Create!!

At the Duncan Carnival for Matt's work Hailey was able to paint a ceramic item.

She choose a car.

There were lots of girlie options yet she picked the car...

This is the finished project after Matt took it back to get a spray coating put on it.

We are all pretty excited about the fun activities we will get to do!!

And I look forward to being able to play with the products Matt has been telling me about!!