Crafts

The last month has offered some exciting opportunities for crafts, and Emily's birthday has its own post, because those were not individual projects, as she is a willing helper. I also cut hearts out of coke boxes for over a month, in preparation of Valentine's Day, but it was a bittersweet day to be sure.  I've included the picture here too, because the other post is a work of emotion and reflection, which I may not feel up to revisiting each time I want to recall a very sweet Valentine's Day memory.

Around the time of a snow event, my mom asked if the big girls would be willing to make a homemade baked good for the church's bake sale at the chili dinner. With the snowy roads, I declined, but as the roads cleared had a change of heart, and made the baclava, for which, I already had the ingredients on hand.  I delivered it to the church, along with some cookies that Sarah made (since I was stopping by her house en route.)  My mom sent me a follow up report, telling me that it was gone quickly, and the bake sale was a success.

The three rounds of snow days gave me the time opportunity to get started on, and ultimately finish end of year teacher gifts for the little ones' teachers.  I don't think I have the persistence to make the 14ish bags that I would need for the big girls' teachers, so I'll have to come up with a different gift for them.

I considered making two bags for the twins' teacher, but ultimately decided that she probably did not need two bags (if she even needs one) and put their handwriting on either side of a single bag.

The t-shirt that I cut up to use for William's teacher was a very slippery material, and my machine did not care for it. It took many failed attempts, and finally an iron on fleece to stabilize it enough to make it useable.  (Also, I hope he never sets it near something hot, because the iron brought out a faint smell of cigarette smoke, which was not present at room temperature.)  And, it wasn't until ironing out the embroidery hoop on the twins' teacher's fabric that I realized it would melt and shrink under a hot iron (I guess the iron had been 'heating' on previous presses.)  So, I ended up trimming it a bit before sewing, and it looks okay in its finished form.

Despite all the setbacks and periods of ripping out failed stitches, I managed to finish!  Surprisingly, this is not even the earliest I've ever finished end of year bags, but it feels good to have this project finished!

Emily and her bag were home long enough that I was able to repair the handle cover on her strap.  Sadly, with the repair, the hook could no longer fit through, and so I had to cut apart the strap itself and then reattach the hardware (twice, because the strap ran through the cover twice on the pass over.) = 6

When the girls' Easter dresses arrived (I shopped around Christmas time) I made William a matching bowtie.  I love the colors of their dresses!!!

I'm glad I waited until the dresses arrived, because the pictures made me think that the dresses were much darker in color than they turned out to be.

I'm thankful for the gift of time.  The hours of dropping off and picking up the children never sounds like much, but it might just be enough to get in one extra craft.  = )

later days

All the Other Fun

All these fun things didn't fit with any other post, so here they are together.

We were invited to eat popcorn and hot chocolate, while we watched a movie outdoors.  It was very fun, if a little cold.

Gracea and Juliet dressing to match Blaire and Molly while the nightgowns still fit. = )

Alice found all sorts of decorations over the summer and wanted to do some decorating this fall.    It was fun to find some seasonal surprises everywhere. = )

Sometimes I eat all the food groups for lunch, not super often, but it sure is pretty!

Kennedy got to come over on a short Wednesday one time, and the girls loved having her!

Not long after that, we got to hang out with Zoey at Pizza Hut.

I was watching a show, in Spanish, that is called High Seas in English, and this image was too perfect.  I had to pause it and take a very skewed picture of it, so that I could remember it forever.

Grace and Juliet were working on their face painting skills, on one another.

I added this to the "reasons we can't have a pet" folder in my mind.  I would be so tempted to spend soooooo much money on adorable, unnecessary things.

I scored almost 10lbs of sirloin ground beef for really cheap, since it was marked for clearance.  I came home and cooked up most of it for future meals, but made a meat loaf and meat pie that day.

The meat pie came out so pretty!  Sadly, I didn't even eat any fresh, but did eat plenty as leftovers. = )

My mom treated the kids to Arby's snack shakes.  $1 a piece, which might crack up all you distant future readers of 2122! ; )

Grace picked out a clearance chocolate 'haunted' house kit.  Think gingerbread kit, but Halloween themed.  It refused to stand out, so she used yellow ribbon to declare it a disaster.

Starbucks and Biggby both did away with their Eggnog lattes for the season (and they are my favorite!!)  So, when I spied the lineup of Eggnog that Kroger has, I was excited.  I've been spoiled all season now. = )

It was 75F, in November, in Michigan.  When the kids wanted to do a water balloon fight, I told them to go for it.  I wasn't personally going anywhere near it, but they seemed to have fun.

Despite having a Panera near two areas that I frequent, neither of them are convenient.  So, when I get a craving for their sausage, kale, and bean soup, I make my own.

It tastes so, so good, but makes a ton, so I share with my mom and then freeze it in small portions so that I can have it for lunches. = )

Grace drew a family of penguins. 

The twins dressed up a balloon, for some reason. 

A happy milk lid was occasion for a picture, apparently.

A new Christmas started advertising months ago and finally was available to watch!

Right before Thanksgiving break, the big girls had a snow day, Grace had been sent home school on Thursday, ill, and then threw up at home, Juliet lasted less than an hour into Friday before her teacher called me to come grab her.  So, on the Friday before Thanksgiving break, I pulled a perfectly healthy William and we started our weekend early.  The big girls still had school Monday and Tuesday, so it wasn't quite break for them yet, but we spent the day relaxing at home.

One Sunday, Emily agreed to play my Sherlock game with me.  She didn't finish the round, but it was nice to play with her for a bit.  Luckily, I can play it as a single player game too. = )

For years and years, Grace and Juliet have wanted a play kitchen (we had one when they were very small, but got rid of it to make room for all the double baby things we needed.)  I am so excited to present a folding kitchen to them this Christmas!!

Grace loves seeing her friend Zoey and made a countdown chain until she saw her!  Sadly, this event had to be cancelled, because she and Juliet were slow to recover.

Emily also felt poorly at some point, though not during the Thanksgiving break, at least as far as I can remember.

My mom had me put together some hanging towels for my Grandma, when I was taking a picture of them, I had a cute little photo bomber.

Blaire and Llama each got a stocking this year, to match Molly's.

Speaking of llama, his leg broke this year.  He still sings and tries to dance, but the best we could do for him was to give him a cast. = (

I bought some corn flakes to make cookies one night, and on the box was a chicken tenders recipe.  I also saw a cute little picture of banana and strawberry skewers cross my newsfeed, so that made for a very lazy, easy, well-received dinner. 

While we were at the mall with Juliet, I came across a stash of Pusheen goodies.  Alice wanted a "Pusheen Box" as her big gift this year.  So, now when I see it I stop and look.  They had an adorable container of mini marshmallows called "meowshmallows," but it was $5!!  I asked my mom to keep any of her spice containers that might empty in the near future, but when I stumbled upon this tupperware container at the thrift store for 75 cents, I thought, that would be perfect to make one for Alice!  I actually like it better than the instore version.

Emily has been a bit harder this year than usual, so for her I'm customizing a hat that I bought online with her team and a sewn in pocket.  I've got the pocket made, but I'm still feeling a bit apprehensive about cutting into the hat to install it, especially since I've already finished the embroidery.

For our MOPS meeting next time, we are doing a gift exchange.  They asked us to bring 3 (of the same item) that we consider a favorite thing, that costs under $5.  I immediately thought of my cord wraps.  I seriously use them for everything!  As I pulled the materials out of their storage places, I had a wave of self-doubt, do I really love these or am I just being cheap?  As I began to cut the pieces out, I thought to myself: I love this fabric (it was from the stash that Christin sent me from Germany many years ago) I think I'll make one for myself too. lol.  Well, I no longer feel guilty or cheap. I may still include some candy or treat to make it look a little more appealing.  They came out so cute though!

 later days

Life and Leisure

Summer temperatures in Michigan come with an overwhelming number of things to do.  There are festivals before, during, and after festivals!  With that, you have to choose what to do each weekend, and last weekend we decided to head up to the town (village? hamlet?) of Laingsburg for their spring fest.  We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the event.

We parked close enough that we were able to run to the car for supplies as needed, so we spent several hours riding rides and eating carnival food.

The bumper cars were a big hit for Alice, Emily, and William, sadly the twins were too short to go.  Billy and I bought some tickets so that they could go once, but they sure felt the pain of being the little ones.

We stayed for several hours, but left before it got dark.  The kids were pretty tuckered out when we got home.

I had expiring sour cream, and half a lemon, so I made a lemon pound cake!  It was really good, but really didn't need the icing.

Juliet drew a picture of our family.  Can you tell that Alice is just a few months shy of being a teenager?

And Emily finally (she's been asking for years) got her ears pierced!!

We wanted to help Coyt celebrate turning 16, so we made him a cake for us to eat on his birthday. Grace and Juliet decorated it with our new "Fun Gun" cake decorating kit!

Emily took her ballet photos, and while I had made plans to be there the day through, they rearranged the schedule to make it much more convenient for everyone. = )

During the extra time, we were able to meet up with Avia and use Emily's extra leotards so that the girls could play at one of the lake beaches in a Lansing park.

We watched a funny baking show called "Is It Cake?" and in the final episode one of the contestants made a baklava flavored cake.  I love baklava, and pistachios, so I tried my hand at making it.  It came out really well.  Even the kids ate it!*

Grace wanted to buy "her own" fabric at a yard sale, so that she could make a dress.  The one she made came out cute, especially for a first attempt!  (I haven't seen her wear it a second time though, so I don't think it was quite as comfy as she wanted.  Seems like true fashion to me!)

I read some gardening books, and talked to lots of gardeners, so I tried following all the advice for our garden.

Sarah gave me some starters, which I used at the end of April when it was really, really cold.  The only plant that actually started was on cucumber plant, which the chippunk has now dug up. =- (

I made a path with some scrap boards (what good advice!) and used some milk jugs as "mini greenhouses for the seeds I started outside.

An attempt was made to clip the bag shut.  It was not successful, but someone did try.

The only flowers we could track down for our nature study, even the dandelion was hard to come by as cold as it was in May!

Grace bought a 2 pack of Chicken Coop shortbread houses (think gingerbread kit) one for her to make, and the other for Zoey.

Emily and Grace also spent some time sewing a Charmander and Pokeball as part of a gift for Andrew's birthday.

Playing party games!  My crew had fun, I hope the birthday boy had a great time!  The cake was amazing, I'm so sad I didn't snap a picture!

Grace made a bow and arrow set from recycling and found objects.

William drew for our Murder Mystery Party Roles this summer.  Should be a fun time!

Emily forgot, and since she forgot, I didn't think she cared about crazy hair day in ballet, so we did what we could with the hair ties and bows and random objects we had on hand.

This was the big girl's recitation poem at the end of the year, and I absolutely love it!!  Now, every time we go to a park or even on a walk, I can't help but thing how wonderful it is to have some leisure time.

 

We dropped Emily off at ballet, then collected Avia from the bank, and she treated us to ice cream at a plant nursery!  We swung back by to get Emily, who  told me in the morning that she wanted to go to a park to stick her feet in the water.  There is a trail that runs all through Lansing, and passes by the zoo.  Since we have free parking with our membership, we parked there and walked to the nearby boat entry port.  Well, Grace needed to go potty, and I was the only one in the party who brought water (my 20oz RTIC tumbler) but not near enough to share 5 ways.  So we ended up at the welcome center/gift shop for some water.

We did eventually make it to the river.  Our path crossed right next to a family of geese, who left us be, and we did the same for them.

On a totally different day, we went to Horrocks to get some loose leaf  Scottish Breakfast Tea, since they were out the last time we went.  They were still out, but we went up to a park we'd never been to.  It was sooooooo pretty!

The water called to my children here too, and was clear enough that even I stuck my feet in!

We took the .75 mile path turn around, but since we had walked there from another park, I think we walked closer to two miles.

As we were leaving, I saw was I thought could be a fairy throne, or maybe castle in an old story.

Even in our own yard, you can watch the weeds "unfurl."

"What is this life if, full of care, 

We have not time to stand and stare?"

later days

*this really surprised me.  I had already started planning in my head who I thought might like to be surprised with some baklava, but there was none left to gift!