Alphabet craft day!

My friend and I are swapping educational/babysitting days with our kiddos once a week. Today was my first day with the kids and we decided to try a version of "Alphabet Rocks!' that I had seen on Mother Lode's blog. In our version, we used stickers on the rocks that we then covered with a thick layer of mod podge to keep the stickers from peeling off.
during our craft time Kyri become a little photographer and got some shots of me and then Cutter
Cutter LOVES Kyrie, every time he see's her he lights up. Seriously! It's really sweet
Here is little Kyri spelling out "spiders" with her rocks. (while the rocks dried we all went outside searching for bugs. LOL)

can you see?

Ben first spelled "slugs" with his rocks...but then got inspired and instead spelled out...

...Washington D.C.

After craft time the kiddos got to put their alphabet rock collection in their own little fabric bags. The girls especially enjoyed having little bags to keep their rocks in.
and proceeded to give me plenty of poses to snap pictures of. Love it!

Crafty projects day

Inspired by Mother Lode's play square give away...awhile back...I decided to pull out my random scraps of fabric and make Cutter his own set of play squares. I put crinkly material on the inside so they are fun to grab and chew on.
Cutter has a little cold today, so sitting around playing...not leaving the house...is the plan for the day
so far he isn't letting his cold get to him. He is happy as a clam. Perhaps mostly happy that I'm not dragging him around to a million places today. LOL
Tomorrow (if baby is doing well) I plan on going to a friends house to do a teaching craft with the kiddos, these little baggies will some how be included in that craft. I got the "how to" from the gigantic Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts sent to me as a birthday present from my Mother-in-Law (Thanks Peggy!)
I also made these out of random left over pieces of fabric. In the book old suiting material was used. I did come pretty close to finding a pair of old pants or a suit coat of Jonathan's that needed to go to Goodwill...but decided this fabric will have to do. Busy day at home so far!

1st day of Pre-school

Despite my best efforts, Jade's first day of pre-school was moved back to...today. LOL! But today we got started bright and early, even had time for some pre....school...pre-school pics! Jade took these very seriously.

okay, so maybe not THAT seriously. But she is VERY excited about starting school even if it is taking place, at home.
We started our school with prayer, the pledge of allegiance (to a picture of the American Flag on my computer...since we don't own an American Flag), Phonics, Math and then of course, some fun craft time using glitter glue!
Jade had lots of fun during her first hour of school and thankfully Cutter enjoyed himself on the floor, playing with toys and baby talking non-stop.
my little goober bug being super cute, in his old man pants and football shirt. FOOTBALL!
Okay, school's over, Cutter's down for a nap, Jade has play time, it's after 9am and now I need to get dressed and start MY day. LOL

My birthday weekend

I feel like I have been on a long weekend since last Wednesday. Why? Because it was my birthday week!

Wednesday evening I joined my husband at a nice restaurant for a work related dinner. I had an excuse to dress up and we got a sitter for the kids.

Thursday (my birthday, and my mom's birthday...Happy birthday Mom!) I met a friend at The Bread Peddlers in downtown Oly for lunch. Following lunch more friends came over in the afternoon to hang out with us and watch movies!

After dinner (I made home made Gyros!) Jonathan and Jade surprised me with a special birthday cake. If you look closely you can see this cake is covered in crushed graham crackers (for sand), air head candy's were stretched and smashed together to create beach towels and then he used a flip flop cookie cutter and gel icing to make little flip flops. SO cute!
Friday night a few couples joined us at "Hop Jacks" for happy hour appetizer and drink specials. After dinner, having time to kill and nothing to do, a few of us took a walk over to the near by Lowes (yes, I said Lowes) to just kill time. Here is a pic of us ladies trying out some patio furniture.
Saturday was also super fun, I spent pretty much the WHOLE day at South Center, shopping with three of my friends (Kristen isn't pictured in the pic below). We all had a really great time
Monday (yesterday) made the weekend that much longer since Jonathan had the day off. It was great having an extra day to get stuff done around the house and hang out together. Another friend of ours had his birthday, so we joined them for a fancy steak dinner and some yummy dessert after.

Good morning

This is usually what happens every morning. I have the kids eating breakfast, I'm catching up on emails and I'm fighting with Cutter to drink my coffee without spilling it. He is very interested in my coffee...er the bright shiny mug that I keep bringing to my lips. What would I do without photobooth on my laptop?
Jade wanted to join in the photobooth fun. So here we are, this is what we look like first thing in the morning. Before hair brushes and day clothes.

aren't we just a beautiful bunch?

Tomorrow is my birthday...just in case anyone wanted to know:)

Granola

Last week I slaved over a mixing bowl and two cookie sheets worth of delicious, homemade, cherry and coconut granola for my family. My daughter turned her nose up and wouldn't eat a bite. She claimed it was "spicy".

This morning she requests Kashi granola over her rice crispy's and LOVES it. WHAT? How on earth? My homemade granola was ten times better then the slightly cardboard-ish, though okay tasting, Kashi granola. That's it, from now on, homemade granola for me, Kashi cardboard for Jade.

Sunshine, you are my sunshine

Here is my little sunshine. Jade made this sunshine mask in church a few weeks ago. But I haven't thought to post it till now. She also made a little clock, she has it hanging in her room and religiously sets it at 2pm for nap times and then to 8pm at bed time. I love my little girlie, she is so smart:-)
sorry I haven't been posting much. Life has been busy but mostly busy with boring stuff not worth posting about.

Today, however, is my Dad's birthday so that is worth posting. And Thursday is Mom's and my birthday. Hurray for us! I hear a rumor that Jonathan and Jade plan on making me my birthday cake on Thursday. I can't wait!

Hope all of you are enjoying the last bit of summer we have left!

and on such a pretty day

Headaches and laundry should not be allowed when one has such a lovely, sunny day. Why? Oh why? Hoping for a better tomorrow!

Summer is here and it's nice and HOT!

Saturday was a fabulously warm day here in the Washington. I was thrilled to get to pull the kiddie pool out and not have to wait a day and a half for the water to warm up. It was nice and warm by noon! Jade had to wear her shades in the pool because it was SO sunny! lol

sticking poses for me. She is so funny!

my little man, I think he was just eating his fist when I took this picture.
the two of us making funny faces. Well...I'm making a funny face at least.
and my man. :) So glad we are having such wonderful weather!!

A good day

It has been a good day. My morning started with happy kids, followed by swim lessons and getting to spend time hanging out with a dear friend.

Home for lunch and nap times. I got to watch "Ugly Betty" while folding laundry and playing with my dear little baby Cutter.

I even found time for a 30min nap and ironing of shirts.

I didn't really have to cook all day today, just ate leftovers. Then after dinner we went to a friends house and I got my two children watched while I went for a 20min run/walk. The weather was warm but with a cool-ish breeze. The sky was blue, my music was up beat...such a good run/walk. When I got back Rachelle had brownies in the oven so her home smelled amazing and Jade and I were sent off with delicious treats.

Now I'm home, 20min till both my kiddos go down for the night, I have "Top Chef" recorded waiting for me to watch and now a yummy brownie to eat while I watch it. Ya gotta eat something when you watch Top Chef after all.

Not that this has anything to do with my day (other then the fact the sun was shining and the sky was so blue it had me thinking along this line...) I spent time reading "All new square foot gardening" I'm hoping to start my own little 4x4 box this Fall or at least get it built so this spring I can start a mini little salad garden. I really hope, hope, hope, I can have a little garden. I think it would be wonderful for Jade to watch things grow (and help plant and harvest) and it would make me feel so domestic. Plus, I want to be like my Mom and Nic who both have gardens. LOL

Anyway, I'm just in a very zen place at this moment and just had to type and tell you all. :)

should I?

If my child wakes up at 6am to eat but then goes back to sleep, do I go back to sleep as well? I've spent the past half hour trying to figure out if I should sleep or stay up. So I have stayed up, but now I'm wishing I had gone back to sleep. LOL

Swim lessons

Jade has started up swim lessons again. I had signed her up for swim lessons last month, but sadly she got very sick and only made it to two classes. Today is day two of classes and I am crossing my fingers hoping we can make the rest. LOL

She loves it, of course, and all I can hope for is some sunnier/warmer weather for her to enjoy the remaining time. She is in a class with two other little boys her age. Her teacher is a young man as well, she asked me if I could get her a girl teacher. She is so cute

That's all. bye.

Up and running

Trying to get back into the swing of things after having a baby can take some time. While I have been working out since three weeks post pregnancy, I've kept my workouts pretty basic. Simple stuff, mostly easy pilates and walking. I keep saying I'm ready for more, but haven't been able to organize my self enough to really do much about it.

As we all know if you want something bad enough you figure out a way to find the time to just do it. I miss working out and the lack of a gym membership shouldn't keep me from doing what I love. Heck, if I can find time to paint bird pictures and watch reality tv, shouldn't I be able to find the time to do a longer, harder workout?

So Sunday morning I could think of no excuse not to go running...so I went. It felt great...all six minutes of it. Throw in about 40min of speed walking and it felt like a pretty good workout.

Todays stretches and running only totaled about 27min but 10 of those minutes was running. Baby steps, that's what it is.

I'm excited to do more with my routine and hopefully gain back some of my body confidence that has eluded me for over a year now (perhaps over three years, but we won't get into that)

Here is to priorities, running and being a stay at home Mom! Cheers *holds up coffee mug*

Tummy time and art

Cutter is spending more and more time playing on his blanket staring at his little play toys. He's just now started to stick is bottom in the air and push his chubby little knees under him, in an attempt to get in a crawling position. Below he is exhausted from his crawling attempts but he did successfully reach and grab one of his play toys. I am very proud of him.
staring at his little toy.
if you read my earlier artwork post...here is the completed bird/flower pic. I can't say I think it's very good, but for a beginner it will have to do. Plus, it's for a kiddie room, maybe people will just assume a kid painted it! LOL!
The colors are fun at least! On to a new project now.

UPDATE: I decide to take a pic of my art next to Jade's. I love Jade's artwork, I wish I had a million frames so I could frame all of them!

FOOD!

After his morning feeding Cutter still seemed hungry. He also kept reaching for my coffee cup every time I took a sip. So I decided to give my little pumpkin pie some rice cereal.

He isn't quite ready, he kept trying to suck the spoon like a bottle...but boy did he like that cereal. Making happy grunting noises that sounded like "aaaYummmmgrrrr aaa" lol you got that right?

My little Cutter bug, has the cutest smile...

Art on a Tuesday afternoon

I was planning on working on my art projects while my kiddos were taking naps today. But...they didn't go down till later. So, instead of waiting I decided to let Jade paint and Cutter scream (well, not the whole time) while I fit in some fun art time. Below is the beautiful masterpiece that Jade created. What is it about children's art that looks like so much fun, full of depth and character? If I were to scribble on a page...not the same thing. :-(

I thought under taking the task of copy this picture would be fairly easy. I knew I couldn't get it to look the same but figured I'd at least get the colors and essence of the picture. Ya...not so much.
mixing paint colors is hard and layering is time consuming. This project is taking longer then I thought...and I have to say I'm a bit discouraged. So...this is as far as I have gotten today on it...maybe I'll do more tomorrow or later this evening.
now, my pottery barn kids art for Cutters room...that is going much easier. I know it's not the same (and I switched the truck for an anchor to stick with my theme)
but close enough. I love my new pics! And I only spent $8 on the canvases!!
I will probably hang them on the big wall, but for now (since Cutter is finally napping) I just put them up so I could take a picture of them:-)
hurray for summer time lazy afternoons and fun art projects!

My silly little boy and some Lake time

This morning I set Cutter down on the rug while I went to fill my coffee cup. When I came back I found him hanging out under the coffee table. Happy as can be.
He seemed pretty proud of himself. He is starting to be able to roll where he wants to go. LOL
Wednesday I went with some friends to Shelton and got to hang out by the lake. Cutter mostly chilled on a beach towel
while Jade spent a good deal of time sitting in the water digging up rocks.
Later she did convince Yumi (also her babysitter) to take her out on one of the rafts. She is the little red blob on the right, sitting on the blue floaty thing.
And Cutter continued to hang out under a big beach umbrella.
It was fun to have a change of pace and get to play by the water!

hello

I'm staring at Cutter while he's playing in his little excer-saucer. He is giving me goofy faces and gooey grins. I love his little slobbery, toothless smiles. They get me every time.

Being a Mom of two leaves me either crazy or bored. Crazy because it's hard juggling two crying, cranky kids at the same time and bored, because when they both are napping I have zero energy left to do anything really productive.

Though...I am inspired to learn how to paint on canvas. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this canvas on potterybarnkids.com and I've been looking at it on and off today and thinking "I could paint a knock off that isn't quite as good or as cute but you get the jest of it...for a heck of a lot less, right?" I haven't convinced myself quite yet, but I also want to paint these flash card inspired canvases for Cutter's room..I was hoping to make it to the craft store tonight to see how much blank canvas are anyway. I wanted to go alone but the hubs man won't be home till late. Waa. I'm thinking I'll just take the kids. I have nothing else planned and I'm tired of watching tv, folding laundry and trying to keep myself from eating every snack in the kitchen. hee, hee

So, that's all. Just sitting here with my lap top and figured I'd post an update.

UPDATE: I went out yesterday and bought three different canvases (50% off at Micheals) and this morning I'm watching "how to paint with acrylics" videos. LOL I've done it before, but it was awhile ago. Jonathan doesn't seem to have any faith that my paintings will turn out very good...but we'll see.

Uncut, unedited movie of Cutter and me in the morning

Just one reason I love my Macbook

My husband likes to throw around fancy words sometimes. Words he thinks should be used in every day conversation but I think should be reserved for fancy novels and deep historical fiction. Since I don't read fancy novels or historical fiction (much) it can be difficult for me to decipher the meaning of the words used...but then I realized...I have a fancy little "dictionary" app (or icon, I don't know what you call it when it's ON your computer and not a fancy iphone or something) on my Macbook and I can just type in the word and ta da! Definition, right at my finger tips. Don't have to go trudging upstairs and search my own dictionary for the meanings.

I enjoyed having it today after watching "Accidental husband" yesterday. There were a few words they threw around in the movie that the characters pretended not to understand. It is fun to look up words you don't tend to use on a regular basis in your vocabulary. I remember as a young child my Mom use to use fancy words and when I would repeat these words to other adults they would look at me as though I were a genius child. I miss that rush. Who thinks of me as a genius now? No one. Doesn't take much to look like a smarty pants when you are six, takes a heck of a lot more when you are 26.

Ah well. At least I have my fancy little dictionary at hand so I can verify the meaning of a word before using it in a sentence. LOL

Now if I only had a spelling master app...I'd be all set.

And now it's time for silly songs with Missi. The part of the blog when Missi comes out and sings a silly song:

I wake up every morning

feeling pretty great

I hear my baby screaming

cause he can't articulate

I run and feed the baby

Then quickly change his clothes

I also spend a lot of time

Just tickling his toes

Then next we get his sister

Who is hanging in her bed

She likes it when I wake her up

by singing near her head

After morning cereal

and coffee for this Mom

we play a little "let's clean up"

which never lasts that long

sometimes we go for real long walks

Some times we stay at home
but go or stay each new day,

I'll work myself to the bone

Mondays I do laundry

Tuesday I clean house

I will cook bread, until I'm dead

And feed it to a mouse

Nap time is my favorite

It's when my children rest

Then i pull out my laptop

Cause Hulu is the best

I catch up on my sitcoms

And watch my silly shows

I like suspense and guys who fence

And stylishly dressed Ho's

When evening time starts nearing

I begin my culinary skills

It's a good thing J won't complain

and always eats my meals

This poem now is boring,

I can't type any more

I'll only say, what a great day

Now go and shut the door

Riight

I have the passion to be creative, but not the skills. Not the skills and not the materials. Not the materials and only a tiny bit of patience. A little patience but only so much time.

Time, I have. I'm home. Waaa! Home with ideas. Ideas that I've stollen from Mother Lode, Who, strangely enough, gleaned these fabulous ideas from others...

Why don't I have a huge stash of glue and paper and paint and crayons and ribbons and fabric and thread and yarn, all wrapped up in a cozy little cupboard in a perfectly little craft room in my house? Why?

On gloomy, cloudy days

when my life is a haze,

A sorry little maze

Like a "Rat Race" phase....of boring repetition?

I need in my hands

twenty colorful paint cans

Perhaps some ceiling fans

And a few kitchen pans...and some decision.

okay, that poem sucks. On to the next thing. My children are sleeping. Cutter napping and Jade still asleep from her long evening nap. It's nearly 10am! You know a child is sick when all they want to do is sleep. I better go check on her.

Gosh, I wish I had something to keep me busy today. Why? Oh why did I do so much yesterday?

Being domestic

The one good thing that comes of having sick kids, is I'm forced to stay home all day. This is both a positive and a negitive, as I'm going stir crazy like no other. The positive though is I've gotten a TON of stuff done. I've scrubbed the house (literally) from top to bottom. Done many loads of laundry, cooked a delicious meal for a friend who just had a baby, spent time reading and playing with both my kids, and started "to do" lists for later this week.

I feel like I should be wearing a poodle skirt and pearls while I continue to dust and vacuum my house. I also have this huge urge to bake pies and cookies all day. I'm not, just cause I'd feel bad to make all the yummy goodness and then tell Jade she can't eat any of it till she is better.

I do wish I had some fabric to work on some projects though. I may leave Jonathan home tonight with the kids and run to JoAnn's so I have something to keep me busy later on this week.

Poor Jade sounds like a dying old seal, that and a chain smoker. hee, hee. Her throat is so thick and raspy that when she talks it's hard to hear her.

She finally seems to be getting some sort of an appetite back though, so that's a plus. Trying to get her to drink fluids isn't going to well. Yesterday I crushed up ice in the blender and poured orange juice over it to get her to drink something. Today I made popsicles. :-)

Any hoo...the kids are napping and I'm waiting for the dryer to finish so I can do yet another load of laundry. While I wait, I think I'll read a book!

Sick kids and another day spent at home

My little baby Cutter woke up with a fever on Wednesday morning. His sad little face was so hot and flushed I spent the entire day holding him, rocking him and trying to get him to eat and sleep and stay cool.

I had just signed Jade up for swim lessons that started on Monday, she LOVED the swim lessons on Monday and Tuesday but sadly had to miss Wednesdays' appointment due to her brothers fever. I hoped all would be better the next day. After a long, exhausting night Cutters fever broke and he woke up Thursday morning a bundle of smiles.

Sadly, while he was all smiles Jade was sporting her own little fever. So we canceled swim lessons and hoped for another 24hr recovery. To my relief Jade's fever broke by Thursday afternoon. I let out an exhausted sigh and looked forward to a nice weekend.

Before I continue let me add quickly that my week started with my car in the shop to get the A/C working, while babysitting for a dear friend, Jonathan's Audi was accidentally backed into, a rat was discovered living in our garage and the "fixing" of my cars A/C resulted in other "must be repaired charges totaling $1000.

So Friday morning Jade seemed fine and Cutter seemed fine. I hoped to take the kids to the zoo, but it just so happened to be closed on Friday. So I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese instead. Friday night I was delighted when Jonathan took us out to dinner, and even more delighted when Jonathan told me our rat trap worked and we were rid of our pesky pest. Jade seemed "off" but I hoped she was just tired.

However, Saturday morning Jade woke up with a horse voice and a slight cough, only to later be followed by yet another fever.

Jonathan I spent the morning (mostly Jonathan) cleaning and rearranging the garage. I had seen another rat disappear behind some shelves and freaked out. We were able to clean and rearrange the whole garage and put out food poisen in hopes of killing any additional rats that may try to take up residence in our garage.

Jade's sickness has turned into heavy, raspy breathing, a barking like cough and what seems to be a stuffy nose that doesn't really require tissues.

Cutter, thankfully is fine and dandy, I am fine and dandy. But I'm home again, missing church and wishing for good health in my family. It's summer after all. Isn't there a summer rule that says "no one shall have colds or illnesses in the summer time, due to the need to never miss a day enjoying the sunshine" ? Right? I'm sure I read that rule some where. Oh wait. I just made it up. But I'm sure we can all agree there SHOULD be a rule that reads something to that effect.

Needless to say with the car repairs, JB's car getting hit, the rat and the sick kids, not to mention swim day lessons being missed...I'm feeling like I need some extra prayer and extra lovin'. So please, pass on the prayers and pour on the lovin'!

In other news I'm reading my second "book club" book. I think I'm on page four. hahaha! It's called "Rooms: A Novel" my book club is planning on reading only novels during the summer months "to keep things light and fun" and we are also going to try to stick to Christian authors.

Cutter is in his bouncer yelling at me for neglecting him while I type this weeping saga of my past four days and Jade is zoned out on the couch watching "Clubhouse Disney". The online recommended remedies for croup was to keep your child "calm", let me tell you, nothing makes Jade more calm then putting on the television. Gosh, I'm SUCH a good nurse.

Excersaucer take two

When Jade was about five months old we got her this little exersaucer at a garage sale. See here. Cutter is not yet four months and he is already enjoying some play time
complete with happy boy smiles. I have to say, this saucer was a lifesaver to me today. With what seems to be a nasty sinus headache and husband away for the evening, I've needed to not be holding my precious little angel all day long.
I'm so glad he likes it!!

Swim lessons

Thanks to Rachelle I have pictures of Jade taking her first swimming lesson!
she and her friend, Kyri, got to be the only two little girls in a class together. Both of them seemed very excited and didn't mind waiting their turn to swim with their teacher, since they got to play with such fun pool toys by the stairs.
We have lessons three more days this week and four more days next week. Jade is VERY excited and it's all she has been talking about this morning.

Just a quick update

Here are the handsome men of our household. I just bought Cutter his first pair of sunglasses and had to take a quick picture of him with them. He was smiling right before this pic was taken.

Cutter started rolling over while visiting my grandparents (his great grandparents) in Michigan. He's quite the little talker now, gurgles away baby talk to himself and Jade while driving in the car. He also likes to make his presence known with loud screaming type outbursts. I'm not very excited about this, but it is fun to see his personality shining through:-)

He'll be four months old next week, where has the time gone?

Jade started swim lessons today! (pictures later) she and her friend signed up for class together and ended up being the only two kids in the class! They loved the first lesson and are eager to go back tomorrow.

Jade is my little social butterfly, when friends aren't already over playing she is asking me when friends are coming over to play.

At 3.5yrs Jade is quite my big helper. She will talk with Cutter to calm him down when he's fussy, plays toys with him, sings to him and is constantly giving him is pacifier. Jade found me in another room this evening and peaked her head in to say "I'm gonna go find Cutter and tell him a story, maybe he will smile at me!"

I love her eagerness to be a good big sister and I'm so very grateful for the help, especially on long hard days when nothing seems to go right.

This has been a fun summer so far. I got to travel to Michigan last week with my two kiddos to visit my family and my In-Laws. We are now enjoying some great Washington weather (finally) and have big plans to do some day trips and make this summer as special as we can.

I guess that's a good enough update for now. Enjoy your summer every one!

Playing around with my brothers