December

I had good intentions of posting earlier this month. Every time I sat down, though, I would either forget what I wanted to say or realize the pictures I wanted were still on the camera and unaccessible at the moment. And now here we are at the end of December already! Just so I at least get one post written this month, here's a quick summary of what we've been up to the past few weeks...

The first week of December we went to a dinner party in Salinas. Kyle's company has a nice Christmas dinner each year and it's always in a different location. They take the employees (and spouses) out to dinner and then put them up at a nice hotel for the night. I haven't been able to go for the past three years because we either had a new baby or had nobody to watch Parker. But this time both kids were old enough to leave with a sitter and Kyle couldn't stay overnight because he had to work the next morning. So I could finally go!! I was excited to get dressed up and have an evening without the kids. Maybe next time I'll remember to get a picture of us on the way out...

And we've been making some holiday craft projects! I found gingerbread man kits similar to the ones we made last year. Here are the finished men (and woman). I'll let you figure out who made which one...  :)

We made penguins, too. Six little ones came in the package, and the pieces were stickers so they only took a few minutes to assemble.






Next we all made a gingerbread house. I've been wanting to make one and Parker is old enough this year to help stick the candy on. I considered making one from scratch so it would actually taste good but I didn't know if I wanted to spend the day measuring and baking huge pieces so I cheated and bought a pre made one. The downside is that all the large pieces were broken. So when I assembled the house it had icing 'glue' all over the sides to hold the pieces together. But by the time we finished decorating it you couldn't really tell. I had set out two trays of candy and Parker didn't stop decorating until every last piece was used! He had so much fun and it turned out pretty cute!

Aside from gingerbread and penguins I also decorated Christmas cookies this year. I don't typically spend a lot of time on them but I wanted to make some pretty ones. When the kids were napping last Saturday I made a batch of royal icing and began decorating several dozen cookies. They took a while to finish, but I enjoyed being more creative this year. I packaged most of them in small bags and gave them to friends at church the next morning. Kyle enjoyed the leftovers. :)

I had signed up to bring cookies for Christmas dinner as well, so I made another batch. I didn't want to spend all of Christmas eve decorating these ones, though, so I used soft butter icing and sprinkles. But they weren't just any cookies, they were a cookie Christmas tree!

Isn't it great?! Everyone thought it was cool...and everyone wanted to be the last person in line so they got the huge cookies on the bottom.  :)

Christmas is so much fun with little kids! Over the two weeks leading up to the big day he asked me at least once a day if it was Christmas yet and if we could open our presents. I finally showed him on the calendar how many more days it was and we began counting the number of sleeps left.

On Christmas Eve, it's our tradition to open our stockings and one gift (a new pair of pajamas). Among other goodies, we each get a movie in our stocking so we end the evening by watching a new movie. However, this year we had company for dinner, so we were a little late opening things and we skipped the movie. Then we get up Christmas morning and, after breakfast, open the rest of the gifts.

Parker was so excited! We try and take turns opening gifts so we can see what everyone got and the fun lasts longer. But after tearing open a couple gifts, Parker came over to the tree and started looking through the gifts, asking which ones he could open next. He just couldn't sit still!











Elise, on the other hand, couldn't care less. We tried to help her open some but she kept walking away. She would pick up a bow or something that was already open and go walking out of the room with it. We finally gave up and left hers in a pile for later. It's been almost a week and there are still a couple she hasn't opened. We'll just wait until she's grumpy and needing something new to play with.  :)

 Seems like we were in and out every day last week! Monday and Tuesday we saw Kyle's parents and a sister who was in town visiting, then we had Christmas in Manteca with Kyle's family, we were able to see friends that had moved and were back in town for the holidays, we brought our nephews home for a couple days, and we had friends over Friday morning for lunch and to play games. It's been a crazy, busy week!

Thankfully this week is a bit slower. No big plans for New Year's Eve. Staying in our warm house, watching a movie, eating ice cream and snuggling under a big fuzzy blanket sounds like the perfect ending to our year.
We're so thankful for all the ways God has blessed us this year, and are looking forward to seeing what 2014 will bring for our family.

Happy New Year! 

Parker's Dog Kennel

As I may have mentioned, Parker has a thing for dogs (puppies, as he calls them). At last count he has eight small stuffed dogs that he carries--or leaves--all over the house. I was wondering how to keep them all in one place, partly so they are picked up, but also so he knows where they are if he wants them. He needed a dog kennel! :)

I was wanting to make something anyway, so I figured this might be fun. And when I mentioned it to Parker he thought it was a great idea. So off we went to Joann's! I already had decided I would make it similar to Daisy's (our real dog) kennel. Which meant it would have mesh sides so Parker could see the dogs inside, it would need a big door on the front, and a handle so he could carry it around. 

I bought a few large sheets of plastic canvas for the sides. I knew Parker would want green yarn on the edges so I basically just gave him a choice between various shades of green. And of course, he picked the brightest one. Nice!  :)  The only thing I wasn't able to find was a handle. Joann's used to sell handles for making purses but they no longer had them in stock. So the next best thing was a large 'D' ring--it would be plenty big for Parker's little hands. I grabbed a couple yarn needles and we were on our way home. Even though he knew I was making it, I didn't want him to see it until it was done so I waited until the kids were napping before starting it. 

I didn't have a specific size in mind, so I just cut the canvas sheets in half for the sides. But I thought that might be too big for a little guy to carry around, so I cut it down a couple times until it seemed like a good size--big enough for his dogs, but small enough for him to carry.  I cut out the two end pieces and a door and started stitching them together at the edges with the bright green yarn. I wasn't quite finished by dinner so I put it away and finished it after they were in bed for the night. Here it is after stitching it together. 

The next morning while he was at breakfast I put one of his dog blankets and two puppies inside and took it out to show him. Seems like he was pretty happy with it!

Parker carried it around all that day! He brought it from room to room and sometimes would go set it down next to Daisy's kennel for a while (pardon the mess--Daisy just had a bath!).

I still need to figure out some kind of 'lock' for the door so it will stay closed. But, as Kyle pointed out, stuffed dogs aren't going anywhere. So I guess there's no hurry.  :)

Elise's Birthday - Part 2

On November 16th we had Elise's birthday party! We had invited several families from church, most of whom had little ones Elise or Parker's age. A few of them weren't able to make it because we changed the date but we had a fun time with the ones that could be here! I changed the time from lunch to dinner but we had the same menu to keep it simple--a 'make your own sandwich' meal, along with fruit, veggies and chips.We had gone out earlier for pictures that day so I didn't know how much time I'd have to put together a hot meal in time, and I had already bought some sandwich toppings for the week before.
Since the kids aren't big on sandwiches, I cooked some chicken nuggets and fries for them.

I was hoping to get some pictures of the party, but I was too busy getting dinner out and then chatting with our friends that I didn't think about it! Oops. But we managed to get a couple of Elise opening presents and a few of our family and her cake. Elise did really well that day! I was expecting a meltdown part way through but thankfully she had taken a good nap in the afternoon and there was enough going on around her that it kept her occupied.

Just realized that the gift opening pictures are on Kyle's phone, so here are a couple that are accessible right now.  :)

Trying to keep with the bunny theme for party favors, I filled carrot shaped bags with small bunny graham crackers. Elise and her little friends got a carrot and a small wooden bunny-shaped puzzle (no picture, sorry), and the older kids got a carrot and a disney jigsaw puzzle.

Hard to believe Elise isn't a baby any more! She's now an active little girl, trying to walk everywhere, climb on everything and copy what everyone is doing!
I think we're in for some very busy days ahead.  :)

Elise is One

Our baby girl turned one year old last weekend! Hard to believe our little Elise has been a part of the family for a year already. I'm so thankful for her each day. Every time I go in to get her after a nap and see her standing in her bed with her little stuffed puppy and her fuzzy baby hair sticking straight out I just want to hug her and never let go! And I love how talkative she is, always babbling to us and sometimes even cracking herself up.  :)

We had planned a party for her last Saturday, but the birthday girl came down with a bad cold earlier in the week. Then she shared it with me and Parker. So to avoid spreading their little germs to all their friends, we postponed the party for a week. I was disappointed we didn't have it on her birthday, but I'd rather be safe than get everyone else sick. And at this age she doesn't know the difference anyway. We didn't do too much on the 9th. I decorated the kitchen a little, and made a batch of cupcakes so she could at least get a taste of birthday cake.  :) I wrapped up her quiet book, too, so she'd have a birthday present to open. 

Here are a few pictures of the day. More to come after her party this weekend!

Not sure what to think of the candle

Finally decided she liked it! 

How do I get this goodness in me??

Opening a present after dinner. She happily played with it until bedtime!

 Ready for bed in their new matching penguin jammies!

 Our birthday girl

then.....

and now! 

                                   

Elise's Book

I mentioned earlier that I was making Elise a quiet book for her birthday. And I'm happy to say that I finally finished it! Ok, I guess I should say I'm almost finished it. The only thing left is putting in the eyelets so the pages can be put on rings. But I'm having Kyle help with that and he's not free until the weekend. So I'm done everything else. And I'm SO happy it's finished. I really wanted to make her one but it's a big project. Hers took longer than Parker's partly because I now have two little people needing attention rather than one, and also because I didn't have patterns for most of the pages. I had to draw them myself. I like how it turned out, though!

Rather than the bright yellow bumble bee cotton I had picked out for the inside of the cover, I changed my mind and used a light pink butterfly print instead. But it had yellow butterflies on it so I kept the pale yellow fabric for the pages. Pink would have been better but the thought of going back to Joann's and buying several more yards of fabric, washing/drying it, pressing it, cutting out eight more pages and ironing them all onto interfacing made me tired. Hence the reason I went with yellow pages. :)

Before I show pictures, I should ask you to disregard the sloppy writing. It's the only part of the book I'm disappointed with. When making Parker's book I wrote out the words in a water-soluble marker to make sure the size and spacing were right, then traced over it (or beside it) with a permanent marker. Sadly, the water-soluble blue ink did not wipe off completely so most of the pages in his book have faint blue letters under the words. I didn't want to make the same mistake with hers, so I used only the permanent marker and made it as straight as possible. Not great.  :(

Anyway, here are the pictures of her book:

The last page is a mini flannel board with felt shapes. For some reason I couldn't come up with anything else to put on that page. The flannel board might work out well, though... if Elise gets tired of making pictures of ice cream cones or hearts, it will only take a few minutes to cut out and fill the pocket with completely different shapes.

So that's the big project I've been working on! I wish I could have done a better job writing in it but I'm not about to start over because of a few crooked words. Thankfully I doubt think Elise is going to notice. She'll have fun playing with it.
And that's all that matters.  :)

Suncatchers - Part 2

Last time I went to Joann's I was waiting in line to pay and saw more suncatcher kits in the dollar section. Parker liked the making the stars so much I went ahead and picked up a few more. These ones were made differently, though. Rather than painting the image, we would fill the small frame with tiny, colored plastic pellets and then bake it.

There weren't many images to choose from, so Parker picked out a monkey and a lion. We got a second lion for Kyle, in case he had some free time to play with us.

When Elise went down for her nap one afternoon last week, I got out the kits. I lined a cookie sheet with foil, set the frames on top and then we began filling them in. Parker started with the monkey while I made a lion. Kyle wasn't feeling well so I opened the third kit for Parker and he was happy to make that one, too.

He was very focused on filling the little sections....sometimes a little too focused on certain areas and I had to remind him to fill in the entire thing or parts of it would stay empty. So he kept adding more and more plastic pellets. And then some more, until his poor little monkey looked more like a mini mountain--all heaped up in the middle. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was too much, so I just hoped that it would all melt and even out in the oven. And it did!  :)

They had to bake for about 20 minutes. Another couple minutes to cool and then they were ready to come off the pan. They turned out great!  I hung them in the window next to our stars and called Parker out to see them. He was super excited to see more of his art hung up!

These are the best art kits for a toddler! They're cheap but include everything you need and they don't require any prep or cleanup. So I get to spend time with Parker making projects that he loves and is so proud of, but I don't have to worry about a big mess later. What more could a mom want?!  :)

Parker's Puppy Party!

Parker's Puppy Party--try saying THAT five times as fast as you can!  :)

But it happened. Our little man turned three and had a puppy party!

His actual birthday fell on a Thursday this year. Kyle took the day off work so we could spend time as a family and have a personal celebration before the party.
Over the past  month or so Parker has really taken to a little foam bowling set we had around. Because of this new bowling obsession we thought it would be great to take him to a real bowling alley.  So we started off his day by going bowling. He was SO excited! We had bumpers put up and asked for a ramp to make it easy for him. After pushing the ball down, he would grab onto the ramp and jump up and down laughing. It was so cute seeing his excitement in trying something new. And he's the perfect bowling companion. Because no matter now bad our own throws were, he would clap and shout heartily, "Good job Mommy! (or Daddy). The highlight, though, was Parker getting his first strike! It's all he's been talking about for the last four days. 

Next we headed over to the SF zoo. We've been there several times over the summer but it never gets old. It's somehow relaxing to wander around and watch the animals. One of my favorite spots is the hippo exhibit. Not because I particularly love hippos, but because it's always sleeping when we go, so it promps Parker to shout, "Wake up, hippo!" And if we ask what a hippo says, Parker replies, "Haha haha ha!" (it's a sound his hippo flashlight makes, so now he thinks real ones make a goofy laughing sound as well). At some point, yes, we will correct his animal sounds. But for now, well.....it's hilarious.  :)

Anyway....

We planned his birthday party for late Saturday morning. We started the festivities with two of Parker's favorites for lunch--cheese pizza and cheetos. Healthy? Nope. But it's a party, right?!  :)

After lunch the kids played for a little while. And then we brought out the box. The kids were crowding around asking what was inside. 

It was time for the much-anticipated puppy adoption! 

Not to worry--no real puppies were adopted. ;) 

Parker has a thing for puppies/dogs. Early this year we were in Walgreens and we happened to see a small stuffed dog in the toy aisle. He asked if he could have it and since it was only a couple dollars I said sure. And that's how it started. He carried that dog around with him every day and night for months. He got a second one later on and then he carried them both around. Since then he's acquired a couple more and loves them just as much. So when he picked out a puppy cake for his birthday, I knew  exactly what we'd do for his party--a puppy adoption! He and all his little friends could pick out a small stuffed dog to take home with them. I saw it first on pinterest and thought it was the cutest thing ever! 

We had lots of boxes around so I grabbed a big flat one and cut off three of the flaps. The only newspaper we had was a small flyer, but it worked fine (disregard the puppy in the corner. He had a little accident). As for supplies, I bought a yard of paw-print fleece at Joanns and cut it into small squares for blankets. And I found a set of paw-print bracelets at Oriental Trading that were perfect for collars. I waited until they had free shipping and they ended up being pretty cheap. Once I got them, I had to shorten them slightly to fit around the dogs, but it was nothing a pair of scissors and a glue gun couldn't handle. And finally, I had some doctor/vet supplies. I wasn't going to get those, as the only ones I found at the toy store were a little expensive and I wasn't sure if they would be played with after the party. But, as luck would have it, I was at Target a couple days before the party and I found small doctor kits in the dollar section. Yay! 

I opened the box and laid out the supplies next to it. Starting with Parker, we let all the kids go through and pick out a puppy, a blanket and a collar. 

Then they took it over to Daddy, who was the in-house vet that day, for a check up to make sure their new pet was healthy. Turns out Parker had to give his puppy some medicine...

He loved it! A couple of the kids weren't sure they wanted a dog, but once they saw the others having fun picking one out, they quickly came over and wanted to join in. Here are the happy new pet-owners! 

Last on the agenda was dessert! I had found some fun dog-themed ideas online. Although it was overkill for the number of guests we had I went ahead and set everything out anyway. 

Dollar Tree had these huge dog bowls that were just the right size to hold snacks. We had:

Puppy Chow

Doggie Biscuits (iced cookies)

Doggie Treats (Scooby graham cracker bones)

Rawhide (Pirouette wafer cookies)

Fetch Sticks (pretzel rods)

And of course, the cake! I decorated it on Friday while Parker was napping. When he wandered out later I lifted him up so he could see it. He looked at it for a minute, then gave the biggest smile! Makes me so happy to make him happy. :)

Seeing how excited he was about his party and all his friends coming over made today the perfect day. While I was changing him into his pj's later I asked Parker what was his favorite part of the party? 

His answer? The puppies!