I can SEW!

Well, i can kind-of sew! I found a cute tutorial, full of lovely step by step directions (WITH PHOTOS!) to make what they called "kidlets". They are like wall pockets that hold all the kid's goodies & belongings to help cut down on clutter. You can use it in a playroom to hold cars, or by the door to hold scarves, hats, etc during the winter. Well, i have always been so intimidated by sewing but i decided that i had to give it a try. I am such a visual learner so the photo tutorial empowered me to give it a shot.

And lo & behold.... i did it! I actually made FOUR of them. I made one for Zack, to hold his leash, towel to keep his paws dry, etc which i hung on the back door knob. I made his first to test my skills & used scrap fabric i already had (some old shirts). I didn't line his with interfacing to make it stiff, because i didn't have any & i wanted to see if i could do the project at all!

After i completed his in a little over an hour (gasp!), i decided i wanted one in the kitchen to hold mail....

and one for each of the boys to keep by the door...I took the boys with me to the fabric store to pick out the pocket fabric. Jackson REALLY wanted some fabric he saw with skulls on it, but luckily i persuaded for the lizard camo. Whew!
Here they are hanging by the door, ready for some clutter control....

Aren't they cool? And the fabric in the front isn't just for decoration... that is a pocket. YES, i not only sewed a kidlet, but i sewed one with a lining AND a lined pocket too. I am so proud- can you tell?
And i already have a plan to make another one, a little longer to hang in my freshly painted powder room to hold 2 rolls of toilet paper. That stinkin' dog keeps getting ahold of them!

Summer Craft Camp: Project 1

Before the start of the summer, i had decided that i wanted to do a lot of crafts with the boys while school was out. They LOVE crafts & i feel like we don't get enough time to do kid friendly crafts when our schedules are so tight during the school year. Sooo, i asked Rebecca if she wanted to try to do a craft each week with all the kids. She thought this would be a good idea to try too!

Last week was project 1: Freezer paper stenciling with the kids.
You can do this 2 ways, one is by painting & the other is with bleach. Because i didn't have my paint brushes (i had left them in bible class the day before!) We went with the bleach method this time! The kids chose an image & we cut it out on my cricut with the freezer paper. Emma's we used an exacto knife to cut out because i didn't have a peace sign image on any cartridges. Then we ironed on the freezer paper all over the shirt to cover as many areas as possible since the kids were going to spray the bleach themselves.
Here the kids are choosing a peice of paper to decide which order they would get to spray the bleach. You have to think of these things when you have 4 kids & one spray bottle! Luckily, the most volatile of the kids got to go first! Here is Eli getting a little help from me...
Then Jackson got a turn & then the girls...
We left them out in the sun to dry (which took about 5 minutes because it was around 100 degrees!!)
After they faded to our liking, we peeled off the paper & rinsed them in cold water to stop the bleaching. Then we hung them back out to dry.
They were thrilled. Craft Camp Project 1 was a SUCCESS!

Never play Play-doh with an artist....

.... unless you want to develop an inferiority complex. Seriously! I was working on a sewing project (more to come on this later!) one evening & Randy took it upon himself to join in with the boys, playing with Play-Doh. I came around the corner & this is what i found....He said it was "calming" playing with the dough. He also told the boys that his sculpture was an old man because every old man had a big nose! LOL! Here is the completed OLD MAN....
About 10 seconds after i took this picture, he put the old man in his hand & squished him all up. It was a sad moment- and i could have NEVER done that!

Cookies with Mama

When i was growing up, my mom always made these YUMMY chocolate oatmeal cookies. They are so delicious & they are apparently super easy to make. My sister gave me the recipe a few weeks back & since then, the boys & i have made THREE batches!! That's a LOT of cookies.

The boys love to help in the kitchen when i will allow it, so i have been involving them in these cookies every time i've made them. Jackson gets to stand on a stool & stir the chocolate, milk, & sugar together. I gave him a nice pep talk before the first batch to make sure he understood that he needed to be extra careful stirring on the stove. He took the job very seriously & felt important!Eli gets to help me measure & dump the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl. He especially loves it when the peanut butter plops out of my pampered chef wet/dry measuring cup. He just giggles!After jackson's mixture is ready, we mix it into the dry ingredients & then i spoon them out onto wax paper. They are ready & set up in no time. YUM!

Father's Day

Randy was out of town for work the week leading up to Father's Day. This came in pretty handy when it came time to work on our gift for him. The kids & I loaded up & headed to the store to get all of Daddy's favorite treats. Then we turned them into this:
Here is how we did it. We emptied out a 6 pk of cream soda bottles & cleaned them out. Then i set the kids to work filling them up with all the goodies. We chose jelly bellies, hot tomales, sunflower seeds, honey roasted peanuts, gumballs, & sour patch kids.
Then i spray painted the carton & covered it with scrapbooking paper, ribbon, & a printed out template of the images. It turned out soooo cute!! And the kids were VERY proud of it!

The boys couldn't WAIT to give it to Randy... so we had to do it on Saturday morning instead of Sunday! Oh, well!!

Happy Father's Day Randy! We love you so much & are so lucky to have you. Of all the things you are good at (which is quite a lot!), being a father is what you are absolutely the BEST at! And i couldn't have chosen a better man to do the job or to share in the joy of parenting. You make us laugh & keep us on our toes. And thanks for balancing out my parenting neuroses! ha ha!
PS. If anyone wants the template to save for next year for the 6pk. You can find it HERE in .pdf form.

Kerr Lake Camping

The weekend following Memorial Day, we went camping at Kerr Lake. It is one of my personal favorite places to camp because it is affordable & the kids have their own little "beach" to play at right at the camper. I was a little nervous this time because it was the first time camping this year & we were taking Zack for the first time. I figured it was either going to go amazingly well or be more work than fun. Thankfully it was one of the most relaxing trips we have taken in a long time. That is quite a statement considering we were camping with a 7 mo old boxer puppy, a 10 month old baby, & 3 other kids ages 6 & under. There was a lot of outdoor time where the kids could just splash around in the water & the big guys got to go fishing too. The little boys finally caught a fish too!!
The campsite was fantastic & here is the view of our site from the water...
The kids practically spent the entire weekend in the water...
It did take a little coercing to convince Eli that he would be fine in the water. And thankfully, Uncle Jeremy was the one to got in the water with him initially! After this, he was like a little fish! He was "doubly protected" with a life vest AND a ring a lot of the time, but whatever it takes, right?! Jeremy walked him into the water, splashed around with him a bit & then they were all playing together!
Now, Zack was a whole other story! He HATED the water at first. Randy walked him into it on the leash & he just tucked his nub, laid his ears back, & shivered.. all the while pulling to get back out. Then day two rolled around & he couldn't stand that the kids were making all these fun squeals & slashing around, so he jumped in nervously ONE time. By the third day, he was a crazy man jumping in, chasing & retrieving a frisbee. He was WORN out too by the end of the weekend- which is the BEST way for him to be!We also discovered that Zack & Ethan have a little love affair going on... they would just play & play with one another. He was very gentle with Ethan & Ethan would tap his nose & let him lick him & nibble his hands... it was very cute!
The kids enjoyed riding in the boat too. I don't think it ever gets old to them!
Marie & I even took a little ride in the innertube... but the photos that were taken were so far out that you can't even tell what it is, so i won't waste your time! But i will tell you that it has been at least 15 years since i have been tubing & my arms were shaking for HOURS after we got back! But that didn't stop me from taking little Ethan for a walk. He LOVES the backpack carrier & was just as quiet as a mouse. However... he did kick a lot but i think he was just excited!Overall, it was a VERY relaxing weekend.... as you can see...
And by the looks of how exhausted Eli was on the truck ride home, i am thinking they had a blast too!

tenacious...

If nothing else, i have very tenacious boys. They give up on NOTHING. Not even going to bed if they don't want to. Ugh... sometimes, i just have to choose my battles.