Sunday

Birthday Prep Craft #3 and #4

Super Hero Capes!

I used this tutorial.
Used iron-on velcro for the closure.
And my fabulous fabric fusion glue
to attach the felt emblems

And do you see the Happy Birthday banner?
That's birthday party prep #4!!!

I used heat-n-bond to stick two rectangles of fabric together (approx 9.5"x5")
glued on felt letters with the fabric glue
sewed the small double-fold bias tape to the top and
viola!
I really love it.

One's Sixth Birthday, Mucho Style

One is now SIX YEARS OLD!!!
Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!

He woke up to streamers at his doorway:

We brought cookies to his school
Cookies that he got to pick out
Cookies that I was not even allowed to make (hurray!)
Cookies that had no peanut products
According to One, these are "oreo donuts" :)

Then we picked him up from school in a decked out van:

Can't show you the other sides because of course his name isn't really "One"
But they say: "One" is 6! and
Happy 6th Birthday ONE!

Then it was his choice for afternoon activities:
We went to Sonic for an after-school snack
Stopped at Goodwill to pick out a toy
(how does a perfectly working gameboy for $3 sound?!)
Visited DaddyMan at his work

And then he could pick anything he wanted for dinner,
noodle salad and a giant nacho!

Not overly well-rounded but I love that he picked a dish I sneak veggies into! And that giant nacho? I made it once as an after-school snack because I had some leftover (and stale, shhh) tostada shells.... who knew it would be such a hit?!

Happy Birthday One!
I love you!

The End of Five

Today is One's last day of being five. I just can't believe it. Tonight as he went running into the living room in his jammies with the book he chose for his bedtime story, I was so grateful that even though he's getting bigger, he still has some lingering little boy moments. They are being over-taken with big boy moments and real conversations but it was so special to see him still get so excited over a bedtime story. I know there will be a time when these moments are just memories and so I'm doing my best to treasure each and every one of them.

Sunday

Our usual Sunday photo:

And because they're my kids,
as a special treat,
a silly picture too:

Taking a break

I took a break from birthday crafts to make something for myself!
Check out my new skirt!

How else was I supposed to get a picture of myself?

Anyway, I started out with a pattern but after cutting out an almost complete semi-circle of fabric, I realized that the pattern I had was not at all the kind of skirt I wanted. Soooo, I got out a skirt I already had that I liked the length of and liked how it hung, laid it out on my new fabric, and cut around it, leaving room for the sewing edges. In that moment, I was feeling very brave!

It turned out great! I love it, I got lots of compliments on it, and I'm sure I'll be posting another skirt soon!

Birthday Prep Craft #2

One has asked for a Darth Vader costume.
Dark Vader, actually.

Which reminds me of the time he asked my mom to buy him some life savers.
She of course agreed and the next time we were at Goodwill
One thought he hit the jackpot when he found a light saber...
(can you see where I"m going yet?)
and I said I was not buying it for him
- did I mention it made obnoxious noises? -
to which he replied, "Gran said she would get me one"

A very confusing phone call later
Gran realized that while she thought she was agreeing to buy life savers
One couldn't have been happier at how easily she agreed to buy him a light saber!

Uh oh.

Gran, however, would never want to disappoint her sweet One
so she made the trek to our Goodwill
bought the light saber and promptly declared it
An Outside Toy.

Did I mention how smart she is?

Anyway, that was a huge side step.
I'm not quite sure One realizes that Darth Vader is a bad guy.
I know I am not a fan of my child dressing up like a bad guy.
So I made him these pants:



To go with this shirt
to ensure they become Batman pants.

I made them with the same pattern as the pajama pants from Christmas. They are SO EASY! They might just be My Favorite Thing to sew right now. Seriously people, they were like a 30 minute project.

Knitting Update

Did I ever mention that I quit knitting Two that sundress? Oops! Well, it turns out I had misread some of the directions and needed to rip out most of my work....down to the first three inches! Well, in the meantime, I had found a different pattern I had wanted to try next, and since my new pattern seemed like it would come together faster anyway....well, I decided to rip the whole thing out and start my new project instead.

It, of course, has a free pattern.

Here is the sample photo:

Here is the first side I have completed:

It is actually knit exactly like the sample photo image. Something about the yarn is making that funky stripe at the belly. As much as I like COLOR, I think from now on I should knit with solid yarn! I'm happy with it though and since the two sides are supposed to be knit exactly alike, I know I'll have the other side done in a flash! Or, at least in the next month or so... :o)


I offered to do the activity/craft for Tuesday Treasures again tonight. We played a game with easter eggs, another game with hula hoops, and also made these fun sun catchers!

(You have to excuse my nails...my manicurist is three years old!)

They were from a kids craft kit from Joann's and they were a little bit harder for our Treasures than I had anticipated, but with a little help, our Treasures left feeling very accomplished with a real craft to take home and show off. For some reason, the picture is way washed out. The one in the picture is actually yellow! There were blue ones in the package too.

Muffin Tin Monday

Tonight's Muffin Tin Monday was super fun!
You just can't go wrong with Breakfast-for-Dinner!

(Clockwise from top left: cinnamon roll, ham, applesauce, raisins, scrambled eggs, cheese)

Easter Sunday

Birthday Prep Craft #1

For some reason, One has decided it's time to turn SIX!
Seems like craziness to me, but with his party just two short weeks away, it's time to get crafting!

Here are my supplies to make a batman logo shirt, including
this awesome batman pattern (she also has superman and princess):

(black shirt, marking chalk, fabric fusion (best stuff EVER), batman pattern, yellow and black felt)

Five minutes later (that's my kind of craft!),
here's the finished product!

That's one down,
and about a kazillion more to go!

Where's the Easter Bunny?

The Easter Bunny is apparently a victim of the recent economy.
He must have been laid off.
Because tonight, we went with our cub scouts to a local radio station...

And found this!

Apparently the radio people were not expecting our mighty wee ones.
They thought we were there for "a tour" of the station -
Kept telling us they were waiting for "older boys". :o/
But check this out:

We filled and taped shut hundreds of easter eggs!
See the big container behind them?
See the container on the table?

Never under-estimate the power of child!
Or their parents. :o)

Sleepy Sunday

After a beautiful day and playing outside all afternoon, here are my tired babies!

Got Milk?

My good friend Mary walked the MS walk with me.
Here we are with Three at the finish line.

It was such a beautiful day.
Most of our walk was along the Columbia River.

And when you're walking for Team Darigold,
of course there's chocolate milk at the end!

What could be better?!

Ending Multiple Sclerosis of course!
Click here to donate or find a walk in your area.

Toddler Birthday Present

Life has been crazy lately!
Everyone's been sick.
Things have been weird.

Guess who finally finished a craft project?!

ME!

These amazingly simple bean bags took me only took two weeks to complete! Of course I saw it somewhere else so I cannot take credit for the idea but it turned out cute! As of a month ago, sweet Elinor's favorite color was green, so hopefully it hasn't changed!

I cut my felt into squares (these are about 4"). Then I cut the letters out of squares of felt and sewed some cute fabric on the back, almost like a reverse applique. Next I sewed three sides of the back felt piece on, filled the bags with lentils and sewed the last side together.

Happy 3rd Birthday Elinor!!!