Jean skirt

As I said before I have been in a really crafty mood lately and have found some cute websites (via my friend Tonya's - Thanks!) for doing such. I had wanted to turn a pair of jeans into a skirt and while I had previously had some instructions, I found another set that was a lot cuter. The website for this is : kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/2009/07/guest-blogger-time-again.html .

These were the pair of jeans of Kaiya that we started with. They were hand-me-downs from a friend so they are still a little big for her. We cut them off just below the zipper. They are really cute because they not only have embroidery on the top, but also on the back of the pant leg which I ended up using.



Instead of just using one solid piece of fabric, I had some scraps to get rid of so we used those instead. Here you can see the embroidered pant leg. The colors all don't match, but Kaiya didn't seem to mind. She liked them all.



After a torturous morning of measuring (not very well) and fighting off the children, I finally got it pieced together and sewn. I am surprised at how well it turned out considering that I have only really sewn quilt squares!


Kaiya was quite excited and wants to wear it to church tomorrow. I was really intending for it to be more of play clothes skirt, but if she wants to wear it to church, more power to her.


The front veiw.


The back view.

I'm glad she likes! I actually enjoyed making it, even if I was being overwhelmed by a little boy trying to turn ever knob on my sewing machine. Looking forward to my next crafty activity!!

Chunk crayons

Because according to my daughter we "never doing anything fun" and I am "boring" I decided to look up activities for me to do with the kids. I came across doing chunk crayons by melting them in the oven. I did this a few years ago (before Kaiya was born) so I had a general idea how to do it (I referred to the instructions here: http://www.makeandtakes.com/recycled-chunky-crayons). So after the kids all woke up this morning (we were still in our pajamas), I proceeded to get the giant box of broken crayons out and started peeling. That itself was a tedious task.



But that was the part the kids thought was fun. We continued to peel the crayons and sort them.

We separated them into like colors so it was easier to pick which color crayons we wanted to make.


We put them in the muffin tin (may I recommend using muffin papers too -makes for less cleanup later and keeps your muffin tin WAX-FREE).



This was my attempt at putting them on the broiler pan. As you can see it didn't "pan" out. (my sore attempt at humor) I ended up breaking these up and melting them again in the muffin papers.



This is a batch after they had cooled. Once again, use muffin papers. It took many attempts to get these out of the pan, even though I sprayed it with non-stick spray.



These were the end results! I did most of them. Kaiya even had a friend come over and she was able to do a few too. As you can see there was a plethora of colors. Kaden even had fun picking which colors he had in his. It was a fun activity and I cleaned up the crayon box considerable. I think this is going to be a new summer ritual whenever the kids come home with broken crayons from school!

Mac and Cheese PLEASE!

Macaroni and cheese is a staple at our house, just like millions of homes across America. Kaiya usually isn't a big fan of it, but Kaden is and since he is the picky eater I will do just about anything to get him to eat anything. So we sat down and ate this mediocre lunch. Eli was was eying me as I was eating my bowl, so I decided to share with him.



He tends to get a little excited when I share food with him because it is usually a sugary treat.




Okay, so the first bite wasn't the greatest!



"Yummy in the tummy! I need to eat this stuff more often - lots better then that pureed crap mom gives me!"



He ended up loving it! I normally would just set it on his tray and just feed himself but I really am not in a mood to clean cheese up!

He is usually in a crabby mood by this time in the day, but maybe eating real food changed that! I gave him a little bit more, but apparently he is too much like his mommy and does not like eating his food cold. I will remember that for next time.

Trip to COSI

So on Saturday we all met up at Great Grandma's house to figure out what was going on for the week while Aunt Kelly was in town visiting. We decided we would go to COSI (Center of Science and Industry) on Saturday. We only had a few hours to get it in because it closed so early. Kaiya rode with Kelly and Scott and the rest of us rode with Grandma and Pappa. I had never been there, being I am not from this area and everyone else said they hadn't been to it since it had moved locations so it was going to be a new experience for us all.



This was a tree that to me looked like glass.



Kaden wanted to walk on the wall outside the building with Anna. We had gone into the "Space" exhibit first, which was pretty cool. We then went to the "Ocean" exhibit and enjoyed that a lot. Kaden enjoyed getting wet with every exhibit he could get his hands on, or his feet. Kaiya enjoyed using the gun looking things to squirt the water out, too. They went into the submarine exhibit of the ocean.



This was Kaiya sitting in a bubble type thing in the submarine section.

We walked through the "Progress" exhibit which was basically walking through the past and how different inventions have made life better. It was cool to see stuff from the late 1800's to the 1960's and how things have changed.




This is Kaden riding a rocket ride in the 1960's Progress exhibit. Kaiya rode it too.

We then went to the "Gadgets" which was REALLY cool. I think if we had time, Kaden would have stayed in there all day. He played with the giant erector set and was fascinated with the wind blowing the balls in the air. Kaiya also got to sit on a chair and pull herself up using a series of pullies. They also got to see how magnets could influence the screen on a television set. I thought that was pretty cool.
We went on to the "Life" exhibit, which kind of made me nauseated! Anna enjoyed it, but then again she has seen most of that kind of stuff before at school. I did like seeing the different kinds of X-rays of peoples bones. Kaiya got to go and yell in the "echo-free" room and Randy played with the bodily function keyboard. Kaden played with the burping keys while he played with the farting keys.

We then made it down to the end where the "Lost Egypt" display was going on. There you were able to sit on a camel, build a pyramid, and dig in sand for bones. It was really fascinating to learn how they search for the lost civilizations while studying the pyramids. They also had on display actual mummies. I didn't go and look because it was too difficult to maneuver the stroller in there (that is my excuse).



Kaden building a pyramid.



Kaiya attempting to build part of the pyramid too.

Overall, we all had a good time. We weren't able to see everything so I think another trip in going to have to be in the works. Hopefully next time we will plan more accordingly and have more then two hours to spend!

http://www.cosi.org/

Kid-Free Weekend (biological, at least)

So this past weekend I had the opportunity to attend Youth Conference with our Young Women and Young Men from church at Kenyon College. Sister Dawn had her grandson in town so she offered me her spot to go. So I called a good friend, Lauri Powers, to see if she was available to take my kiddos for the weekend, which - yay for me - she was! Because we had to leave so early Friday morning, we went to the Powers' house on Thursday night and all spent the night.


Kaden already made himself comfortable!!




Old Kenyon - this was the dorm that we ladies were able to stay in.

We were able to listen to some funny guys speak on things from dating to commandments. It was pretty good and I think for the most part the young folks enjoyed it too (even if they say they didn't).



I enjoyed hanging out with the "adult" leaders!


There was a dance Friday evening which the youth enjoyed. The young men were told they had to dance with at least five ladies from other wards. I think they all did pretty well.



Buddy had asked me to dance.


Our young men doing the 'Y' in YMCA - they were really breaking it down!



A few of the ladies from our ward (and a couple from other wards) along with a new found friend.

I also hung out with some of our youth!



For being the first Youth Conference I have been to as a leader, it wasn't too shabby. I have to say I enjoyed the time away from my own children, but was glad to get back to them - not to mention getting away from other people's kids! Sad part was my own kids didn't want to come home with me! They all enjoyed being at Lauri's too much! Lucky for Kaden, Lauri offered to keep him one more night, which was fine with me. Here is to next years youth conference (if I am lucky enough to go) and another kid-free night!

Our humble fireworks

We didn't do anything spectacular as far as fireworks go this year. We just lit a few off that Tara had left over from years past and we had picked up some bottle rockets. And Papa supplied a large amount of sparklers (sprinklers for Tara's sake!) It was fun to watch Eli's face as Isaiah lit off the bottle rockets (sorry - no pictures of him). He started out with a look of shock/fear with the initial pop of them, but he started laughing when they were finished.



I think Kaiya enjoyed the sparklers a little much. We got the kids glow necklaces when we were at the fairgrounds earlier in the day.



Even though it is kind of blurry, this was kind of a cool picture. Lighting fireworks by the back of the garage for the Old folks.


Kaiya and Kaden were doing sparkler planes, running in circles. When I did it, I managed to get sparks on Kaden's head. I am such an irresponsible parent! He was fine though.


It was misting a little, but the kids didn't seem to mind.


August enjoyed a more alternative way to play with his sparklers.

No bum hair was burnt in the taking of these pictures!

Foo Foo Wide

So for the past... well, TOO long, we have been trying to get Kaden potty trained. It would go good for a while and then stop, go good and stop, so on and so forth. Well, I started up again and he was doing AWESOME!!

We told him that if he can get potty trained he would get to ride on a REAL train. He has gone over two weeks without an accident, even sleeping through the night without wetting so we decided he finally earned his train ride or his "foo foo wide" as he calls it. So on the 4th we headed down to Nelsonville to ride on the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway. He was so excited to see all the trains and the "gaks" (tracks).

He was getting kind of restless waiting for the train to go, but his face lit up when he heard the whistle blow! It was only an hour and a half long trip. We got to stop at a little Pioneer-like village across from Hocking College to get a soda and a cookie, then back on the train to head back to the station.

It took a lot out of the boy, but he enjoyed it. We are so proud of you Kaden! No more diapers for our big boy!!

Alcohol and late nights

So I was awoken this morning at about 2:30 due to my neighbor yelling explicit at what I assumed was his son (he kept saying "you are my son") Apparently for whatever reason (my guess is because his dad drinks too much)he didn't come home last night and when he pulled around with his friends, the dad began to rant and rave. All I heard mostly was the cussing. After about only 5 minutes of this (any longer and I would have called the police) I heard a "just go" and the dumb idiot threw a glass beer bottle at the vehicle. I watched the van drive away and the drunk go back into his house. Secretly I hoped he would fall over in the road (but that's not very Christ-like of me). When I took my garbage out this morning, just my luck the bottle broke in MY driveway!!! I was LIVID!!! So not only am I in a hurry to take Kaiya to school, but I also have to clean up a grown mans temper tantrum. I am hoping Karma bites him in the butt - or at least pops his tire...

Mom's Day Surprise

So with Isaiah being out of town, he couldn't very well plan getting a gift with the kids. So, he called up and spoke with Kaiya (who loves to talk to people on speaker phone) about the surprise. If you know Isaiah, you know that he is not very good at "surprises". Kaiya is excellent at keeping secrets though. He managed to let it slip that they would be delivered on Thursday. They arrived and were beautiful. Kaiya's response was "Is that what we got you? Oh." Usually if you are trying to surprise someone and have another in on it, you let the other person in on it know what you are getting!! Thanks kids - they are beautiful!

Where has the time gone?

So I have been sitting here watching the kids and realizing where has the time gone??? Kaiya is in 1st grade at the moment, doing GREAT I might add, and only has about 25 days left of school! I can't believe it is almost summer! Then my sweet little girl will be a big, bad 2nd grader! She is already planning for her 8th birthday! Then as I look at Kaden, although he is such a little stinker, he can be the most absolutely sweetest boy ever. We are working on potty training but he is very stubborn. He is talking all the time, too. I guess I am noticing the little things more because Isaiah has been out of town, so I am thinking of all the little things he is missing. And then there is Eli. The kid is SO mobile!!! He isn't crawling yet, but between scooting and rolling he can get from point A to point B pretty dang fast! I am almost worried!! He is starting to eat "big boy" food and loves it! He is always laughing at Sissy and Bubby. I appreciate the fact that he is my mellow one. I hope that it will last! Make my babies stop growing!!!

Buckeye Game

I haven't written for a while so I thought I'd start back up again. Today I took Kaiya and Kaden with me up to Columbus for the Ohio State Buckeye spring game, where they play against themselves. We went with Jeremy (Isaiah's cousin) and his wife, Lauri. It was the first time that I have ever been myself to a college football game and an obvious first for the kids. First off, we parked way out in lalaland so we had to hike what seemed liked MILES!! If it weren't for the 88* sun beating down, wearing flip-flops, and chasing a 2-yr-old it would have been an alright walk. I am VERY proud of Kaden because he walked the entire way, minus about 50 feet. When we finally got to the stadium, we were on C deck and ended up having to go up what seemed like 30 flights of very STEEP stairs. Mind you at this point I was carrying a 35 pound toddler who is over half my size!!! After making it to the top of the stadium (yes, the very top) both Kaiya and Kaden were tired, hot, and EXTREMELY cranky. They both were bored and wanting to go home. So probably after 10 minutes of them whining and crying Jeremy said it was cool if we left. After carefully climbing back down the "30 flights" we met up with Ricky (Isaiah's other cousin) and his little boy, Alex. We left and made the trek back to the car and somehow made a detour. Too make an even longer story short, we made it to a gas station to get water, rehydrated, and made it safely home! Both kids managed to fall asleep in the car. Too bad I wasn't able to! If I am ever to do this activity again, I will be sure to wear comfortable shoes and leave the kids at home!! Thanks Jeremy and Lauri for inviting us!