The little things

Today I wanted to write some of the little things that I know one day I will miss, but right now sometimes wish were over. Some of you young moms can probably can relate. Last week was a...lets say, tough one for me. I was on edge a lot and everything the kids did during the day drove me nuts! Wednesday was particularly memorable (to put it nicely). All day long it seemed nothing got done. I could swear the kids just followed behind me undoing everything I did. I picked up the books off the floor and put them on the shelf. The books were back on the floor. I just put the cushions back on the couch. The cushions were back on the floor. I just put trash in the trash can. That same trash was back out on the floor. On and on and on and on...

I would tell the kids to come in to eat...nothing happened. I told them to follow me to get their diaper changed... Nothing happened. I asked them to stop whining...nothing changed.

Dan had mutual that night so he was quickly off, which didn't help my I NEED A BREAK situation.

Finally I decided I'd had enough. I NEEDED a break. I blocked the kitchen off, turned on a movie for the kids and went into my craft room for a few minutes. And I mean only a few minutes. 5 tops. I came back out and was happy to hear quiet. No fighting, no whining, no toilet seat clanking...mmmmm yeah! But wait....it is much too quiet....take a few more steps...turn the corner....WHAT IN THE WORLD!!! The quiet was not due to a spontaneous nap party, or them enjoying the movie. Instead, I come to find that the quiet was due to immense concentration and an abundance of artistic freedom.

The children had managed to get into the kitchen that I had earlier blocked off, gotten onto the kitchen table and had created an abstract collage with the rocks belonging to my bamboo plant. Ethan had also managed to get a slice of watermelon to munch on. I guess being artistic makes one hungry. The largest masterpiece I found however was on my beige couch. Each child held a plastic jar of honey (no longer full mind you) and now that honey was cascading down in all directions,forms and designs.

Kiera's hair was plastered to her head and her shirt to her belly. One of their socks (I don't know whose) was saturated and propped up in some sort of sculpture. Ethan's red watermelon juice added to the composition of the piece and he too had the clothes to match.

Needless to say, I was horrified! Baths and bedtime happened instantly and I spent the evening trying to get that goey, sticky mess cleaned up. Thank goodness for my steam vac!
The room is still a little sticky in places but for the most part you can't tell anything happened. I know someday I will be able to look back and laugh at these experiences, but for now I will have to get through them one sticky step at a time...

I would love to hear some similar mom stories. It is always nice to know we're not alone out there.


On a lighter note, I have had some fun times too. Recently those times seem to be due to sunnier warm weather! Days like that show themselves now and again over here and we like to take advantage of them every chance we get.
For some reason I really love this first picture. I know it is just a couple of empty chairs but for me it remindes me of how little time we have here and how fast it seems to go by. My babies aren't going to be babies for very long and I am going to miss these days (honey covered couches and all).


I love watching the kids in the backyard. They love to explore and are always finding things to show me. In this one Ethan found a dead clover flower. Glad to see my weed n' feed worked!

The garbage truck was going around our neighborhood in the morning and I caught the kids peeking through the holes in the fence to see what the camotion was all about. I love this picture!!!!

We really need to get a sandbox when we have our own house. Ethan loves to dig and I know sand would brush off so much easier than garden soil does.

Say Cheese!

Fireworks

The evening of the 4th we celebrated with the traditional family BBQ and night time fireworks. The kids were so anxious to watch them, but I think Dan was even more anxious to set them off. Both Kiera and Ethan had no problems with the noises and Ethan just sat and watched in awe!
This was our first time celebrating the 4th here in Marysville and we were amazed at how many fireworks there were! Mortars are not illegal here and so everyone was setting off firework that I'm only used to seeing done for special shows! It literally sounded like we were at war! It was very impressive! I hope everyone had a fun 4th of July! And mom Happy Birthday!

Neighborhood fire

A sad and scary thing happened on the fourth of July too. A house in our neighborhood caught on fire. Luckily no one was inside and they were able to recover photo albums and the family pets. They believe it was started by fireworks, and I wouldn't be surprised considering it was the 4th.
The fire department had a very difficult time putting the flames out and the fire spread sooo fast! The cedar shingles didn't help out much either. It was sad to watch someone else's home burn like that. I am so grateful for the blessings that I have.

These are a few pictures I took after the fire was out and cleaned up later that afternoon. The second story is completely destroyed and the family is not permitted to enter the home at all.

Halloween too?

The day of the fourth was very busy not only did we go to the Disney train in Seattle and taste a little of Christmas but we also had a little bit of Halloween too. Dan's mom brought up all her boys' old Halloween costumes to distribute amongst the grand kids. The kids had lots of fun dressing up and trying them on. Here are a couple pictures of the fun.

Even Grandpa Glenn got in on the fun.
Doesn't he make a great knight in shining armor?

Christmas in July

This past weekend we celebrated the fourth of July but the day of the fourth in some ways we celebrated Christmas. We made our way to Seattle and saw the Disney Tour Train. They have been making their way accross the country and Seattle happened to be one of their stops. Disney is making another movie A Christmas Carol and it comes out around Christmas time this year.



Here's Dan and Ethan making our way to the train. The kids have never been on a real train before and this was exciting for them. It was especially exciting for Kiera. She looked forward to it from the time she found out we were going.


In one of the train cars there were a ton of flat panel TV screens with scenes from the movie showing you how they did the animation. It was fun to see and the detail put into it was amazing.


The animation for this movie was done similar to that of Monster House where there were actual actors, but they wore special suits so that their motions could be changed to digital animation. But in this movie the animation was taken one step further and the features of those particular actors were incorporated into the animated characters. Scrooge is played by Jim Carey. He isn't one of my favorite actors but he did a great job as Scrooge.

These are pictures of clay models of the faces for Scrooge and Bob Cratchit. These were later taken by the digital artists and transferred into the computer. Pretty cool huh?

Before and after getting on the train we were greeted by these carolers. They walked up and down singing Christmas carols. Both Dan and I thought they did a great job. However I felt sorry for them having to wear those costumes! They must have been dying from the heat!


The last train car was decorated with Christmas dinner and a cozy fireplace. I hoped to get a family picture at one point but Kiera was too busy hanging out with her cousin Florence to do anything with mom and dad. So here's one of just Dan, Ethan and I.
All the kids got stick on tattoos from the crew members as they were leaving the train. They were two candy canes in the shape of a heart. Kiera loved it, and is still showing it off. I wonder how long it will last.
We had fun and are glad that we went. After the train they had a giant blow-up theatre where they showed the movie preview in 3-D. The best part was that is was totally free! and it is something Kiera will remember for a long time.

Not what I expected

Last night Dan took the scout patrol flags to mutual for the boys to work on. I was nervous about how they would turn out but was a little bit confident because I had left "suggestions" (more like requests) on the papers with the matching pictures on them. However, the boys didn't see my suggestions til after they had started and instead made some strange color choices. The flags weren't even half way done when Dan brought them back home and I was then left to finish them and make something of them. Grrrr. I spent the night working my magic on them and gladly made some promising progress. I touched up some lettering and worked out the color issues. In the end they weren't what I had envisioned but in some ways I think they are better. All I can say is that I hope the boys have the best darn flags up at camp. They sure took some effort on my part. Now all I have to do is let them dry. Sew up the sleeve for the flag poles and serge the edges. Speaking of which...Kim could I borrow your serger?

Keeping busy Being crafty

I've been keeping pretty busy lately with a bunch of different projects. But I think the biggest project was cleaning out my craft room and moving Ethan in with Kiera. Now when it is nap time I actually have access to my craft room and can do all the projects I've been wanting to do. I've made birthday cards, father's day cards, baby shower gifts and more. Here are a few of the other projects that I have been working on.


I made a dress for Kiera from a pattern I've had for awhile now. I found the fabric at Joannes on clearance for $1.00/yard. I was so excited and decided to make her dress a little festive for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. I love how it turned out! And she is pretty happy about it too. Can you tell?

I bought some tempera paints last year at Christmas time to decorate our windows and decided rather than wait for December, I'd paint something red, white, and blue for July. It turned out pretty cute but the critic that I am, I think it could be better. I'll have to practice some more with the other holidays. But look for our little navy bear if you are ever driving by.


Dan came home the other night and said, "I volunteered you for an art project."
"Oh really?" I thought. It turned out to be something not so bad though. The boys scouts who Dan is over wanted me to outline their patrol mascots onto the flags they will be taking to scout camp this month. One patrol is the Gators and the other the Scorpions. I took some pictures of my outlines, but they are a little hard to see so I put the picture of what it is next to them. I am anxious to see how the boys finish them. I hope the fabric markers I got for them work out ok.



My little Kiera will be turning 3 in August! I can't believe it! To get ready for her birthday I am starting to get her presents together since we will be busy the next month helping Dan's parents with the garden and with our camping trip at the coast.
I picked up a blank apron at joannes at the same time as the dress fabric and some extra fabric markers. Kiera loves helping me in the kitchen and has been wearing one of my giant aprons. I thought it would be nice to give her one of her own that is in her size. I like how it turned out.
I really love having my craft room back to myself. I feel so much more fulfilled when I am creating something. I just hope the kids get used to sleeping in the same room soon.