Project 365 - Day 195

He was mesmerized right before I snapped this but of course that one didn't turn out in focus. I put one of those Baby Einstein videos in for Noah so I could make dinner and he was just sitting there looking so funny just dazed at the tv. I will definitely have to use this one again.

Project 365 - Day 194

Mike found some moldy bread in the bread drawer and thought the birds might enjoy the not so moldy parts. He let the kids take little pieces a la Hansel and Gretel (is that even the right story??) style and line the crumbs up for the birds. They had a blast looking out for little birdies enjoying their treat and all the bread was gone by morning. Now the birds seem to think there is more where that came from because they are hanging out on the patio.

Project 365 - Day 193

The puzzle girl. Laura is quite the puzzle master. She loves doing puzzles and I love that it keeps her busy while I attempt to get things done. She has moved on to 60+ pieces and even the really small ones. She can do them all by herself as Nathan watches on in amazement. I just love puzzles, especially when you can pick them up at the dollar store. A cheap and educational activity that keeps her occupied for a good long while. Is there anything better?

Project 365 - Day 192

My little artist Laura. I found these the other day and was struck by her little imagination. When asked what the picture is she stated matter of factly that it is a big baby. I just love the eye lashes.

Project 365 - Day 191

The 6th birthday invite. Every year I get more and more carried away with the invitations. I just can't seem to help myself. I try. I really, really try. I bought stuff to make plain old invitations and then it hit me that I can make paper lightsabers with a pull out slide with all the party details and it wouldn't take that long. I just love making unique paper things. I am obsessed and I know this. I only do this for myself. I know people just throw them away but I am happy with myself that I get to keep one forever and ever. I am seriously behind since these went out a few days ago and the party is next Saturday. Oh well, I feel better with them being handmade and now all I have to worry about is the favors, games, decor and food. No biggie, I will get it done, even if it is at the last minute.

Anyway, Nathan was ever so pleased and he was very excited to note that I did red and blue lightsabers (the dark side and the good side). I didn't have the heart to tell him I just chose red and blue because that is what I had on hand. Letting him think I am cooler than I really am is okay with me even if it is shameful. At least there is no ribbon. But rest assured my crafty friends - I didn't give up that easily. A six year old boy doesn't appreciate ribbon but he can get on board with the look of stitching. Yes, I used my sewing machine to make the handle looking things and sewed the pocket to hold the lightsaber part that you can pull out. So, I can actually complete a craft project without ribbon, thread is second best.

I will try and get better close-ups of the invite but my camera and photography skills are seriously lacking so we will see how it goes when I can get outside and try to get some close ups.

As promised...

Thank you for reading my little blog and voting on which Laura photo you liked best. The black and white won and I think I will be blowing that up and putting it on the mantle. I just wanted to give you the other one to keep it real. I am constantly dealing with her little black feet. She loves to go barefoot (I have no idea where she gets that from, please don't ask to see my feet) and this picture just made me laugh because it shows real life - dirty feet and all.

Thank you for the comments. I just love reading them.

Four Room Switch

More of the four room switch. I know it is a little boring to keep going over this but I did get a request or two to put some pictures up of the switch around. I am still not completely done but here are a few that hopefully will answer some questions of what things look like now.

The playroom...

The boys room (aka the N room)...I indulged Nathan's Star Wars love but wouldn't give in to the $279 Star Wars quilt from Pottery Barn and just went with the $25 pillow. The little wooden things over Noah's crib were things I made Nathan as a baby and they have sentimental value not aesthetic value.

Laura calls the storage cubes her green and pink ice cubes...

close ups of the button project...all of these colors are in the quilt my grandma is helping me with

a little arrowroot anyone?

Here is Noah eating his first arrowroot cookies. I really don't know why I haven't given these to him before. They are really good cookies - not just for babies. He totally enjoyed it as you can see and personally I just don't think you can get any sweeter looks than this.

And yes Dad, I do know he needs a haircut but I am not ready to cut it. Just trust me it is a mom thing.

Project 365 - Day 190

So here is another one of my projects in the four room switch around. I have affectionately named the boys room "The N Room". I saw this in a magazine as well (remember I don't have many original thoughts) and thought it would again be an inexpensive, fun, cute way to decorate a room. The star of this little wall is the scrapbook page Dusti made for me. She is on the design team for KI Memories and made this layout for one of the challenges and then gifted it to me (oh come on, you don't want pictures of my boys in your scrapbooks??) and I am truly proud to own it. It is a really adorable page and the perfect decoration for their room.

Project 365 - Day 189

My dear friend Dusti and I made plum jam a week or so ago (to be able to make that yummy chicken recipe a few posts ago). I had to leave her after the first batch to get home to feed a screaming baby, leaving her to finish the second batch (still sorry about that D). She then brought me my jars and I finally put them away safely in my pantry today and I noticed this cute little note on one of the jars. What a surprise and what a treat - to get a hand made precious little gem of Kendal's. Is this a great life or what? So I will offer this back to Dusti if she wants it, but I had to include it for the POTD, it just made me smile.

Project 365 - Day 188

Here is what I have been working on for Laura's room. I think I have helped foster this love of buttons Laura has and I saw this in a magazine and thought it would be fun to try and do. Yes, I hand glued each and every button on and yes it took more time than I would like to admit. I was going for an inexpensive, fun and cute way to decorate her room and actually I am not sure how I like the end result but she likes them and they are hanging in her room so I am going with it.

Project 365 - Day 187

With all of his grown up, I am a first grader business. There is still a little bit of a little boy left in him. I snuck this shot of him napping holding his little trusty friend Tower the Giraffe. I still just love pictures of my children sleeping. Is there a 12 step program for taking pictures of sleeping kids? If there is I am not sure I want to go I just want to know if it exists.

Project 365 - Day 186

I love this bird feeder. I tried to capture all of them this morning, I think there were nine on there eating at one time. But of course by the time I grabbed my camera and tried to be stealth only the few brave remained. Nathan, Laura and I have fun every morning calling out the birds we have learned from the bird book. Nathan will shout 'Mommy there is a house finch' (those are the red little ones for those of you who are interested). It is always a hit when the ever stunning blue jays grace us with their presence. Those guys are really fast by the way so I don't see a picture of them any time in the future. I think Laura's favorite is the robin. It has become a wonderful morning breakfast tradition so I thought I should include it as a picture of the day.

Fourth of July Photos

As I stated in my picture of the day we had a very nice Fourth of July at my parents. Everything was very low key and my dad and mom bought a small kit of fireworks for the kids. They loved watching the fireworks - even the ones that didn't really work.

Laura was very unsure of holding a stick of fire in her hand and just kept saying 'is this okay?'

On the other side of the coin, Nathan wanted one for each hand but he kept holding his breath so he wouldn't inhale 'the yucky smell'.

These little bags of gun powder were a HUGE hit. That is all they kept wanting to do - throw these little bags of stuff on the ground to get a spark and a noise.

Summer Days

So here are some shots of how we have been enjoying our summer. I have been trying to stay at home and am really working on trying to simplify my life. I am trying to follow the rule of making everything have a place so that it can be put away and I am trying to follow the rule of if it takes less than 30 seconds to complete or put away to do it now and not put it off. BUT that is just way off the subject of these photos isn't it?

Here is my boy Noah, growing up waay too fast - have I talked about that? Yeah, I know but look at him. He is looking less and less like a baby these days and more and more like a toddler. He is crawling all over the place now and boy is he fast. He is now into drawers and has the cutest little laugh/giggle thing that he does to show he is just tickled to be getting into things.

So here is little Noah wanting to be with the big kids...

That smile is pure joy to me. He just loves with every ounce of his being.

I started doing this squinty eye thing with him a while back. It started as winking and telling him 'I love you' and then turned to me squinting my eyes at him to see if he would do it back. He caught on very quickly and now this has turned into our little "i love you". He will flash a squinty eye thing at any moment during the day - totally random and totally funny. He also started doing this for the camera as "his pose".

Now he is doing it to Nathan...

Back at me for the camera...

You can almost here the giggle can't you...

"Are you still looking at me mom?"

Now, isn't that light much better? I have no idea what I did or didn't do but the joy and adoration in his little baby face is all I need.

Nathan has become increasingly harder and harder to get photos of. When he does look at the camera he does this doggie thing they learned in school because he was a "retriever" in his kindergarten class and they often posed for pictures with goofy faces. GREAT - just what I needed right. I thought I should at least stop deleting these irritating pictures because at some point I will be able to use them against him when he is older. I know, I need help.

Here he is, just Nathan. I swear this one needs to stop growing too. He is no longer a little boy and just keeps looking older and older to me every time I look at him. We have had our battles lately but I am looking for new and fun ways to deal with him every day and most days if I turn things into a game or let's try that again a different way it turns out pretty good.

This is pretty much how Laura likes to enjoy the pool. She is not as rough as Nathan and enjoys doing her own thing, her own way, in her own time. Gee, should I be concerned how the teenage years will be? Please don't burst my bubble or I will have daily nightmares.

She finally let me take a picture of her face. Mind you I can't seem to get her to wear a clip so her hair won't be in her face but that is another post and example of her super strong will. She is another one that just keeps on growing, despite my pleas. She is looking less and less like a toddler and more and more like a little girl and I am just so proud that she is the way she is. Now matter how difficult it may be at times I do love her sweet soul.

I was lucky enough to capture these little lovey moments between them. Both Nathan and Laura adore Noah and obviously the feeling is mutual.

Is that the look of love or what?