Thursday, March 31, 2011

Aaaaah! Chicken Pox!

Poor little PT has come down with them. They don't actually look that bad yet, but he is pretty uncomfortable, and I know the other kids will get them soon. Bummer. 
It's kind of strange to think that just one generation ago Chicken Pox were very normal. Everyone got them; now it is an oddity. I'm not against vaccines; we get most of them for our kids, but not all of them. Chicken Pox is something we decided to let our kids get naturally, and now they have. If I could go back I'm not sure I would choose the same, I hate seeing my kiddos in pain, but I still feel strongly about all the reasons behind our decision, so I guess I probably would do it again. I'm hoping in three weeks it will all be behind us, the kids will have their natural immunities, and we will be glad to have it over and done. We will see... I will keep you posted.

Happy Birthday Little Lulu!

 Happy 3rd Birthday sweet little Lulu. 
You are sweet and tender hearted; charm everyone around you with your goodness, and you light up our lives. We love you.
Make a wish!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Decorated Sandwich bags

I love the idea of Bento Boxes, the lunch box Japanese women send with their loved ones. They take time to create edible works of art to make the recipient feel special and express their love. I would love to be able to do that each day, but I don't have the time or skill, so my simple American alternative is to decorate the sandwich bag! (I did say it was simple)

Traced with Sharpies in three colors.
I usually draw a picture and a note that tie in with what Immy is learning at school for the week. This past week they were reading Dr Suess and Olivia books, and I realized that I could just set the bag over a page in the book and trace away! I think they turned out pretty neat, and it encourages her to work on her reading skills.

One part of the story each day.
I usually make up her sandwiches ahead of time and put them in the freezer; she gets one each day.
We looked! And we saw him! The cat in the hat!

But our fish said "NO"! Make that cat go away!

Sally and I did not know what to do. So we had to shake hands with thing one and thing two.

This is Olivia. She is good at lots of things. (Book title: 40 VERY LOUD SONGS)
This is Immy's favorite page. 

I'm so lucky.









Sunday, March 20, 2011

Homemade Fabric Cupcakes


Here are some sweet (hehe) little fabric cupcakes I made as a gift for my niece back at Christmas time. 
Yummy!
I bought a 1/3 of a yard of this cupcake fabric and evenly circled the cupcakes all the way around with a sharpie marker.

Then I cut out all the cupcakes, put the matching ones right sides together and stitched almost all the way around leaving the bottom open for stuffing.

Watch your fingers, it's hot!
I stuffed them so they were pretty firm and hot glued the bottom edges to the stuffing. Then I hot glued a round piece of felt to the bottom making it hard and flat so they would stand up.

So pretty, and they're low-fat too!
Done!

The fresh batch ready to go!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Felt Shamrock Hairclips

We made some felt shamrocks for St. Patrick's day! 
My lovely models
Hair clips for the girls. 
Shirt pins for the boys. 
However unwilling

Mine could slip on a clip or headband.
Immy's, Lulu's, and JP's
I used a different stitch around each one, they turned out really cute. 
No pinches for us on St. Patrick's Day!

Felt Mardi Gras Crown


 We made another King Cake for a Mardi Gras party on Fat Tuesday, and this time I made a crown for the one who found the bean in the cake. Want to guess who found the bean??





Queen for the day!
Lulu!

Meme

Me and Meme with the babies.

Rain

Rain, rain come today. All my kids will want to play.
Rain, rain don't be blue. Little Lulu will run through you.
Rain, rain drip and drop. In your puddles Immy will hop.
Rain, rain come on down. JP would like to splash around.
Rain, rain don't be shy. Come a fallin' from the sky.

Look who's sitting up!

PT 7mo old!

Valentine's Day Crafting

I did some fun stuff with the kids over the Valentine's week. First we made some cute little garlands from Whisker Graphics.
I replaced the hearts with the kids finger prints.

Lulu's
This was a fun craft the kids could do mostly on their own.
JP's
Then we made V's day cookies, and the kids got to decorate.
There were lots of sprinkles!

And lots of tasting!

Everything is cute with a heart marshmallow on top!
Then we made lots of valentines for the parties coming up using this clever idea we found in the Crafty Crow.
hanging to dry
Immy painting

We printed on one side and painted on the other.

We punched a hole and tied a candy to each one!