FOUR!

Wow, it seems like just yesterday that I was prego with this little (okay, big) guy!
Believe it or not Ethan turned four today!
It was pretty fun to do a picture review for Abbie, and is way easier to do for Ethan, so here we go. The day of his birth with new big brother Max. He was only hours old here (and was apparently very sleepy!).First birthday hanging out at Chuck E'Cheeses. This year he is having his friend birthday party here too (combined with Max). They're having them on Thursday. Same ChuckE by the way, this one in the picture is in Michigan.Ethan turns two! And loves eating that cupcake!Three years old! This one is at Nana and Pop-pops house here in MI. We had travelled during his birthday and celebrated it a day or two late. These were our first days arriving in the state. Luckily I am not in the picture, I was not as happy as he is.And now my big boy is four! He got a John Deere Buck for his birthday. He has been on it ever since we picked it up yesterday. Thankfully the batteries needed recharging before dinner, we thought we'd have to serve him his birthday dinner while he sat upon his "quad".Side view. By the way, the big kids enjoyed the JD dealership too, it was quiet in there and they got to climb all over the big tractors. Ethan drove this all over the showroom.
One of the features he loves about his Buck is the dump bed. It really comes up and the back door really opens. Right now he is outside helping Jeff carry mulch in his "bed" of his tractor. He thinks he is one hot potato, that's for sure!

Oh, before the mulch (today) he had his first "load" in the bed. Baby Parker and Matt and Heather came down from Chicago to celebrate both boys' birthdays. Parker enjoyed the ride!Gotta run, I think we're going to Kung Fu Panda today. Also the skies have darkened and thunder and lightning has started - so I am thinking to get off the computer.

Hope you have had a happy weekend - playscape update coming one of these days.....

The Adventures of Mohawk Man

So, I let Jeff take the boys to get their haircuts whilst Abbie and I go shopping.
I come home to find...
THIS -Now, it is true that when he asked for a mohawk during the schoolyear I said, "let's wait for summer." Now what I MEANT was "lets wait indefinitely". Okay, so when begged I said that it was okay for now. I guess I envisioned a smaller "hawk" with more "mow". Here's the back view. So, do you think he looks like a little rocker? It's pretty funny to see him with it, but let me ASSURE you that it will not last for long.

Hmmm.... okay, now for a humerous story to accompany those rather unique pictures.
So, Mohawk Man (MM) and I were making cookies today for dessert.
They were "healthy" cookies - had peanut butter, grape nuts, oats and other less good stuff.
So... when we're done he asks to lick the bowl.
I rarely okay this due to the whole raw egg thing.
But this has very little egg in it so I say okay.
I hear some funny noises, look behind me, see Max's whole face in the bowl.
I say "what ARE you doing there MM?"
And he says.....
"Mom, my head won't fit in here so I can't lick the bottom!"
EGAD.

The ONE That I Made

This is a post with a lot of ONE things in it - strange.

There is ONE more day left of school for my children.

There is ONE day left to finish up my thank you notes to Abbie's teachers (Max's are done and delivered - check ONE thing off the list).

This is a story about the ONE teacher gift I managed to churn out this year.

Not sure what my problem was - I especially had intended to make something for the preschool teacher... I think by the end of the year my view of her program had changed and I lost the motivation to make that one. So, this gift went to Ethan's therapist who is a sweetheart and really went the extra mile for Ethan.

The particulars - I started with two boards that go as a set. They are heavy chipboard.. sort of like a clipboard would be made of. I went over each one with a thin coat of white acrylic paint. Then I sprayed them with walnut ink spray (like I used on the "Love" project in February). I adhered some school themed paper. Then using the flourish template in the picture (because I am on a flourishes kick these days) I made corner flourishes with a dark brown paint. Then everything got covered with mod podge. Now, for the bottom board I podged over the pictures but on the top layer I didn't. I love the top picture so much and didn't want anything to change it at all.
Finally I added rhinestone accents - one over the top left of the picture and then single ones within the flourishes. Added the quote and apple accent (which is a sticker on a brown painted chipboard circle). There is also a hanging charm from the jump rings that you can't really see in the picture that says "thanks". Oh I painted on the "thank you" stamp with the same dark brown ink as in the flourishes.
I was pretty happy with it... it was hard to see it go. I usually like to look at my stuff for a couple of days before I give it away. That lets me "tweak" it and say goodbye to it too! Here is a closeup of each side - just for prosperity (my prosperity that is! ;) I did add some words to the top section that didn't get pictured (did it on the way to give it to her!). Otherwise it was how you see it.

Welp, that's it from me... maybe tomorrow you'll get to see the finished playscape! ;)

PS - Items I purchased for this project... ZERO! All items from my stash, even the chipboards!! I was psyched!!!

Still Talkin' Vampire...

Sorry for those of you who haven't read it yet.
HOWEVER
If you are like me and are just waiting for book 4...
Go here for the first chapter preview.
It's a goodie!

STOP THE PRESSES

Okay, you're all going to have to bide your time for the playground conclusion since this came out last night and I HAD to share!

What do ya think?
I think that James (the evil one in the below scene) is way better looking then my imagination made him AND I think that Pattinson cast as Edward may just work for me afterall.... {{if you didn't read TWILIGHT yet, do it... just do it... trust me on this one}}

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The New Playscape (part 1)

Hi everyone!

Did you have a nice weekend?
I hope that you did. Our weather here was gorgeous - especially on Sunday when it was 75 with a light breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Ahhhhh... spring. I think, personally, that 75 degrees is my favorite outdoor temperature. What's yours?

Over the Memorial Day weekend when Grandpa and Grandma were here we began working on our new playscape. Jeff designed the whole thing - no kits were used at all. As a matter of fact, Cheryl and I had to tone down his original design when we saw it included a rope bridge with only a plank serving as the "bridge" part. He is a very creative daddy! So, anyway, with Grandpa's help the construction began.

So, here is our tale of day one of construction. It began, as all good projects do, with our ceremonial run to Home Depot. You should have seen my van!!! Once the men were back from their favorite haunt Max and Ethan joined them to help. They were out helping all day. Also we even had some neighborhood children hauling 2x4s. Nice huh?!Now, if you are wondering where the females of the family are... we took Grandma shopping for clothes for Abbie. Now, if you've ever been in Hollister you will know what I mean when I say that it was an "experience" [and then some!] for Grandma! The three of us had a lot of fun and got some good deals too. So, when we got home from our excursion this is what we saw.

Now I included this picture too so that you can see how the tree is incorporated within the play structure. The planks for the second story work around that tree. Thus we have a "tree house" and playscape all in one. In my next post I will show you how far they got in day two. Suffice it to say that while it is not yet done the kids are able to play on it a lot. I'll get that post going tomorrow or Wednesday hopefully.

I still am working on teacher gifts. Why I feel compelled to make things I do not know? Who else is with me on that crazy notion? I KNOW (whether she signs on to admit it or not) that Kristin at least is. I now have myself down to just making something for Ethan's therapist because I love her dearly and she did a LOT for Ethan. Everyone else is getting homemade cards, but no clipboards for me this year. Maybe next year I'll be more inspired??? [wish i wasn't feeling guilty about it though...]

The only other thing new for me, other then the typical last week of school craziness, is that {oh surprise surprise} once again I have some strange sickness [or maybe injury?] that is causing me to feel like hell. I have a doctors appointment in an hour or so, perhaps I'll be lucky and it will be easy to figure out. Rarely am I that lucky {being the reigning queen of strange illnesses} but there's always a first time!

Well, hoping to hear from some of you that haven't commented in awhile - I miss you! I do read every comment even if I am sometimes long in responding. The interactive part of the blog is a huge part of the fun. Okay, off to see the doc. Wish me luck!