Calm Weekend

Our past few weekends have been busy with a capital B.  We've either had visitors or been camping, both leaving little time for the normal weekend activities.  (Not complaining, just been running out of time lately.)

This weekend we didn't have any plans.  Finally a weekend where I could just concentrate on catching up, in anticipation of another weekend spent outdoors.

• On my way home from work Friday I stopped and rented a movie for Grace (Coraline), and Just Dance 4 for Logan (which he requested).  After an easy chili dinner we danced for a while.  It's so much fun, and I'm so bad at it.
• My BFF from fourth grade and beyond called in the middle of our dance party and effectively distracted me.  We talked for over an hour and it made me realize how much I miss having close friends close by.
• Saturday morning I slept in just a bit, had cereal for breakfast, and took Grace to gymnastics.  Afterwards we stopped by Wal-Mart and piddled around.  When we got home we hung out for a while until...
• We went to the kids Fall Festival for their school.  We walked over around 4:30 and played a bunch of dinky little games that they loved and got bags of candy for playing.  They each got to make their own candle; Logan made a football goal and Grace made a little bulletin board courtesy of Home Depot; we each got a cupcake from a local bakery that won Cupcake Wars on Food Network; we took a little hayride; they had the obligatory inflatable slide that the kids love; and we ended the day with frozen ice.  They had a blast and it always amazes me how many kids my children know.
• We finished Saturday with meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner while watching the new episodes of iCarly, Big Time Rush, and Victorious on Nickelodeon.
• Sunday morning I got to sleep until almost 9, which is when the dog decided she'd had enough and I needed to get up.  I made a Cinnabon coffee cake for breakfast (which isn't as impressive as it sounds - it's from a box I bought at Sam's). 
• We carved pumpkins and roasted pumpkin seeds (which the kids said were yummy).
• I mowed the grass (which I declare will not be done again until the spring).
• We picked up all the accumulated mess and vacuumed all the floors.  Grace even did some dusting.
• I did all the laundry and even managed to get it put away (the hard part, if you ask me).
• I made a pumpkin pie, which was yummy.
• Joey made corned beef in the crock pot, which was also yummy.
• We finished the day with bubble baths for the kids and Homeland for mommy.  It was a good weekend.

Car Trouble

Last week I noticed my car was making a weird squeaking noise, so I decided it would be a good idea to drive Joey's car until we could have it checked out. 

There is a set of hooks near the front door where we hang backpacks, purses, and keys.  On Friday morning I go to grab his keys and they're not there.  I'm in a hurry to get out the door (of course) so I go grab the spare keys, run out to the car, and start it up.

Well, try to start it up.  It won't start.  Dang it!  Being that I'm in a hurry I don't have time for this mess so I run back in the house, tell Joey the problem, get my keys, and take off in my car.  Joey realizes that the car battery is fine, it's something stupid with the security system which we've had a problem with before.  Thus begins another search for the primary set of keys.  We also realize that our GPS is nowhere to be found. 

Neither of these items have been located.  Joey's car is just chillin' in the driveway.  He called a Pontiac dealer and they faxed some instructions to fix the security problem.  The dealer said they work 80% of the time. Based on our history, I'm guessing we're in the 20%, but we'll see.  I haven't tried it yet. 

Last night we had a family outing to dinner and do some shopping.  When we got home Joey took my keys to open the front door and then hung them on the hooks.  When we were done getting everything out of the car I got the keys from the hook, locked my car, and put the keys back on the hook.

This morning my keys are not on the hook.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!  I am now convinced there is some weirdo sneaking into our house at night and hiding our keys.  I can not locate the spare set of keys for my car.  Thankfully, after some frantic searching and Logan suggesting we hot wire the car, I find the keys.  Apparently they dropped into a purse I'm not using.

I'm considering putting some kind of tracker on our keys, but I'd probably lose that too.

20/20

I have worn glasses since sixth grade, which at this point means I've been wearing them for a little more than 20 years.  (Damn, I'm old). 

I have worn contacts since ninth grade.

From the moment I got contacts I abandoned my glasses.  I hated them.  They were ugly.  I only wore them at night after I'd taken my contacts out, until I woke up in the morning and put my contacts back in.  This continued until this year, my 33rd.

My eyes had been bothering me and it would have been really nice to take the contacts out and wear glasses for a while.  However, I have had my glasses since some time in college.  The prescription was more than a little out of date.  So I finally got some new ones.  That I love.  And I've been wearing them pretty regularly ever since.  To the point where yesterday, when I wore my contacts to work, I looked in the mirror and thought I looked strange without my glasses.

Funny how things change.

Brrrrr

That title means it's cold?  Didja get that?

Temperatures here in Charlotte plummeted on Sunday and this week, especially the first few days, has been super chilly.  Every night we've had "discussions" about what is okay to wear to school right now.  Momma thinks pants and long sleeves, maaaaybe short sleeves.  Definitely a jacket in the mornings when it's chilliest.

After some "discussion" Grace is pretty easy to get on board with my thinking.  My darling, stubborn, much smarter than me, nine year old, does not see my wisdom.

Monday was the coldest day, and it was pretty easy to get him in pants and long sleeves.  Tuesday he argued that he'd gotten hot on Monday at recess and so he really couldn't wear pant and long sleeves again.  So we compromised and he wore shorts, long sleeves, and a jacket.  On Wednesday he did the same thing.  However, today, he was done with it and wore short sleeves and shorts.  Granted, it is a bit warmer so I'm mostly okay with the progession.

However, it is still pretty cold in the morning.  This morning he got himself grounded from TV for four days (which I'll probably never enforce, but still) because he argued against wearing a jacket so much.  Apparently when I tell him to do something he doesn't like, it translates to "Argue with mommy, make her mad, and then she'll changed her mind" in his head.  In the end, he got out of the car wearing the jacket.

And then I froze my tushy off walking from my car to my office this morning because I forgot my jacket.

Isn't it ironic?

Scratchy Eyes

On October 1 I took Grace to the surgery center in our eye doctor's building to have the teeny metal speck and rust ring removed from her eye.  We had to wait only a few minutes before we were called back.  First they weighed her and checked her height, then took her temperature, blood pressure, and pulse.  Then they asked that she take off her clothes and put on the hospital gown.  She didn't like the idea of taking off her underwear, but she cooperated.

The nurses then came back and informed us that the doctor's first surgery didn't show up so there were going to hustle to get us back quickly.  Then came the series of eye drops. 

Grace has always done well with eye drops.  Logan has always hated eye drops.  For the first set she did pretty well.  Then there was the second set.  And the third.  Let's just say she wasn't a happy camper after them.  Then they gave her a little cup of medicine to drink.  It was supposed to make her a little loopy, thereby making the separation portion of our day less painful.  The nurse told her to take it like a shot.

Seriously?  She's six.  I informed the nurse that Grace had no idea what that even meant, considering we don't do shots at our house.

After a few minutes of cuddling, they were ready to take her back.  And dang it if she didn't cry and I felt miserable.  I mean, she would survive with the little thing in her eye, right?  Let's just go home.  But they took her anyway I managed to hold in the tears.

I waited about 30 minutes before the doctor came out to tell me everything went great.  He got the rust cleaned out and gave her a very thorough eye exam and her eyes looked great.  He said when she woke up her eye may feel itchy, but some Tylenol and a cold washcloth should help.  After another 10 minutes, the nurse came and got me to take me back.

Well, when I got to her bed she was crying, fussing because her eye hurt, saying she couldn't see.  In short, she was a mess and more than a little out of sorts.  I tried to hold her, but after a few seconds she would just flop back on the pillow like it wasn't even worth the effort.  Eventually, the nurse gave her some Tylenol, a wet washcloth, and a popsicle, and she started to calm down a bit.  She was still fussy, just a little less so.  She was extrememly unhappy about the IV needle in her hand, altough Lord knows she couldn't actually feel it.  She just minded the idea of it.

Then the nurse mentioned that the Tylenol had a mild sedative in it so she should take a good nap when we got home.  I was finally able to get her dressed and we wheeled her out to the car.  She was out like a light on the ride home and slept about 2 hours after that.  She was okay when she woke up and had a little something to eat.  It was easy to tell the second the Tylenol wore off, though.  Once I drugged her up again (without the sedative) she was fine.

The rest of the day was lazy, which was what she needed.  We went and picked up Taco Bell for dinner at her request.  She told me later that after I left her they put a mask over her face and told her it would smell like nail polish.  The next thing she knew they were offering her popsicles before I reappeared.  A week later I think she's forgotten all about it.

And life goes on.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Logan told me this morning that I need Procative.

Adult acne sucks.

So do children who are too honest.

Drillin'

This morning I took Miss Gracie back to the eye doctor so he could try to remove the teeny tiny piece of metal and accompanying rust from her eye.  They gave her 3 eye drops to numb her eye, then had her put her chin in the chinrest (if you've had an eye exam you should know what I'm talking about).  While she was (supposed to be) watching TV he lined everything up and tried to put a teeny tiny drill in (on?) her eye to clean the stuff out.  It was a seriously small thing, the size of a paperclip.

Still though, dude came at her to put it in her eye.  And she did so awesome that he was able to do it, but only a little.  The minute she even thought about getting upset he backed away and said no more, for which I was grateful.  She was holding my hand, but I was squeezing hers (hard).

We'll go back again next Monday when they'll use anesthesia to put her to sleep, and then clean it up totally.  I don't think it really hurt her, just the idea of it was unpleasant.

When we left we stopped by Wal-Mart and she got to pick out 2 toys.  Because I was incredibly proud of my brave little girl today.

Bye Bye Birdie

Last night the kids and I didn't get home until about 7:30.  I took the dog out, slapped together something to eat (because it wasn't really dinner), and played cards with the kids.  I sat down in Grace's bed to read with the kids around 8:30.  Logan got up just a couple pages in to get something from the kitchen. He announced that Molly had peed on the floor in the living room.  Apparently she needed to go out again and wasn't interested in waiting.  So I left Grace reading her book and let Molly out.  While she was doing her business I went to clean up the pee.  By the time I came back to let her in I couldn't find her.  Assuming she'd gone around the side of the house and to the front door I closed the back door and went to the front door.

I pulled it open and was greeted with birds flapping their wings right outside my front door.  For a minute, I was very confused, since it was nighttime and shouldn't they be asleep?  I quickly got over that and tried to shut the door again.  One bird flew back in to the night, and the other flew into my house.

In to my house.

Are you kidding me?!  The area above our front door is kind of tall so it flapped around there for a minute before coming back to the floor, in the corner behind the door by a small chest of drawers.  And there it sat.  Which admittedly is much better than it flying around the house.

At this point the kids are completely freaked out (I must admit this wasn't my most calm moment either).  Logan has gone into his room and locked the door (I'm still not sure why locking it helped, the bird couldn't open a door as far as I know).  Gracie is standing in her doorway crying, because that's what she does when she's scared.  And I'm standing completely helpless, wondering what the heck I'm supposed to do, and vaguely remembering that I still haven't found the dog (although I figure dog trying to eat bird would probably make this situation much worse).

Since the bird is sitting still I go to the back door again to see if Molly has reappeared.  She hasn't.  Crap.  I go back to the front door to check on our birdie friend.  The kids inform me that the bird flew toward the front door.  Relieved, I look around, don't see the bird, and praise the Lord that it's gone.  I close the front door and turn my attention to the missing dog.  I grab a flashlight, turn on all outside lights, and head out front with the kids pretty well attached to me, since they're both still kind of freaked out (admittedly, so was I).

Still no dog.

Crap.

Back through the house to the backyard and finally I spot Molly wandering around up by the hill behind our house.  I think she is paying me back for not taking her out sooner by ignoring the many times I've called her.  I leave the kids by the back door and wrangle Molly.  We're no sooner in the door than Grace informs me that she just saw the bird flying around.

WHAT?!

Yup, birdie is still chilling inside my house.  I didn't see it earlier because I didn't look up.  Which is where it is, on the chain thing holding the light.

The bird probably thinks we're crazy (which we probably are).  Logan points out that we've been walking underneath the bird. Yes, many times.  Thank God it didn't poop on us.

So now I'm faced with how the heck do I get it out of my house?  I go outside through the garage and open the front door (because I don't want to walk under the bird to open the door from the inside).  Back inside the kids and I stare at the bird willing it to fly out the wide open front door right in front of it.  I'm scared to try to shoo it out with a broom or something because I don't want it to get excited and fly further in to the house.  So far it's stayed right by the front door and I'd like to keep it that way.

Finally, finally, it flies out.  I slam the front door and breathe a sigh of relief.

Except now I've got to clean bird poop off the wall.

*No birds (or people) (or dogs) were harmed in the making of this post. 

Four Eyes

Today Grace visited the eye doctor for the first time.  When she had her annual checkup a few weeks ago (we're late, don't judge me) she had a little trouble with her left eye so they said we should think about taking her to the eye doctor.  I decided to put it off a bit since Joey's in Kentucky and all.  However, I feel like she pulls the book up close to her face when we read at night.  Since I had to call to cancel an appointment for Joey, I figured I'd go ahead and make one for Grace, but expected we wouldn't be able to get in until October or November.  Surprisingly, they had an appointment for 9 a.m. today (because of a cancellation), so I grabbed it.

It turns out, her vision is really good, just a slight astigmatism in her left eye.  However, he found that there is a small (teeny, tiny) speck of metal in her right eye and it has a ring of rust around it.  That's right - she has rusting metal hanging out in her right cornea.  We get to go back on Monday, he'll numb her eye, and try to remove the metal.  If she can't handle him poking in her eye while it's numb, we'll get to go back again and he'll "put her under" so he can get it out.

And that's today's completely weird and random Rowe family happening.

Kids These Days

The other night Logan did an impression of the guy from Toy Story (Emperor Zurg) saying "I am your father."  Yes, the guy from Toy Story, not Star Wars.  I think I need to get those movies for him, he'd probably really like them.

Growing Up

My little Logan is 9 now so he is apparently too old for a kids meal anymore.  He now insists on ordering from the adult menu.

When my mom and her husband, Pete, were here a few weeks ago we went to Fatz Cafe.  Logan wanted to order off the adult menu so he got a club sandwich with mashed potatoes.  While we were waiting he ate 3 rolls and some of my salad.  When his food got there he attacked the mashed potatoes.  After all that, he barely touched the sandwich.  Fail.

Last night at Burger King he got a Whopper Jr. combo (cause momma wouldn't let him get the full Whopper that he wanted).  He had no trouble eating that, in between all his yapping.  Boy eats slow like his momma, because he yaps, like his momma.

P.S. He still pauses to consider what toy they're offering with the kid meal, so I guess he's not completely moved on yet.  He told me last night that there just isn't enough food in the kids meal for him, though.

Spriting

You know how when your foot (or arm, or leg, or whatever) falls asleep?  Grace Clementine calls it "spriting."  I don't know why she calls it this or where it came from, but I like it.  Right now, my foot is spriting and it's driving me crazy.

Tidbits

• Logan and Grace finally came home from their summer with my family-in-law.  I missed them desperately, but immediately felt tired when they walked in the door.
• Gracie came home with the strongest southern accent ever.  Two weeks later it has finally diminished, but it took going to school to get rid of it completely.
• Miss Gracie started kindergarten.  She is generally a very outoing, confident little girl, so when she started expressing concerns a few days beforehand I was rather surprised.  However, true to form, she overcame it and has loved going to school on the big orange bus.  Waking up in the morning...not so much.
• Joey flew to KY early Sunday morning to visit his family for a few weeks.  Molly seems to be depressed without him there.
• Logan got 8 ant bites on his foot on Saturday.  His poor little foot was so swollen.  The first few days he said it hurt, then it started itching.  The swelling finally went down Monday afternoon and he seems to be on the mend.
• I left the house this morning before the kids got on the bus.  I worried about it the whole way to work and considered calling the school to make sure they arrived safely.  Then figured they'd call me if something went wrong and got on with my day.
• Cub Scouts has officially started back up after the summer break.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
• We are on the lookout for a program for Grace to get involved in. I'm thinking Girl Scouts or gymnastics. She spent yesterday morning doing front rolls on my bed.
  
  
  

Summer Break

Have you heard?  Summer break officially began (for me) this past Sunday when Joey and I came home from Kentucky.  Without the kids.  That's right, for the next month and a half or so, we're childless.  We left them back on the farm, in the holler, with Joey's family.

The day we were leaving, Sunday, Gracie woke up with a tummy ache.  She was so pitiful, going back and forth to the bathroom.  She looked at me and said, "Mommy, I wish you were going home yesterday."  I asked if she meant tomorrow, and she said yes.  Then, once breakfast was ready (we had it late), she was back to normal and ate a pretty good breakfast.  Later, as she was "helping" me load the car, Uncle Kelly came by on the riding lawn mower and asked if she wanted to go with him.  Well of course she did, but I told her she'd have to wait until later since we were leaving in a little bit.  She ran to me, gave me a kiss, said I love you, and ran off to the house to tell Joey bye.  That was it.  She was clearly heartbroken. 

Logan, on the other hand, didn't run off and gave us both big hugs and kisses when we left.  Of course, I'm pretty sure he started trying to figure out how to be reunited with his cousin Kaleb as soon as we were gone.

That evening we called to let them know we made it home and were informed that Gracie had thrown up on mawmaw's kitchen floor.  I was really sad to have missed that.  She seems to have been find since then, though.

Happy summer!

Patriotic

I love my county as much as the next person, but I'm not particularly patriotic about it.  I don't have a flag flying in the front yard or anything.  However, when I saw this Clothespin Wreath last fall I immediately saw it in red, white, and blue.

I basically followed the directions on the tutorial in the link.  However, I think I used a bigger hoop, and I spray painted the clothespins red and the hoop white.  Then I found some patriotic ribbon and tied it up.  Since I made this one to give away, I think I'm going to make another for me since I love it so much.  However, I will definitely use a smaller hoop - it doesn't really show in the picture, but it's huge!  What do you think?

Another Year

On May 14 my sweet Grace Clementine turned five.  FIVE!  I can't believe my youngest baby is now old enough to go to school.  With all those big kids.  Wait...she's a big kid. 

Saturday morning (her actual birthday) she came to wake me up with a huge smile and said, "Today's my birthday!"  Since we'd been counting down since May 1, I wasn't surprised by this proclamation.  However, I was surprised by how long she let me sleep.  My wake up call came at 8.  However, I had a Cub Scout planning meeting to be at by 9 and had expected her visit to come earlier in the morning.  Since it didn't, she got a quick happy birthday and a hug, a bowl of cereal, and off I went to get ready and get out the door. 
Upon my return the kids and I loaded up and headed to Sam's to pick up her birthday cupcakes and snacks.  I told them we'd stop for ice cream.  I thought we would have the Edy's chocolate sundaes from Sam's, but unfortunately they ice cream machine was broken.  So instead, I decided to take them to Steak-n-Shake for milkshakes.  And for an extra treat, we'd go inside.  Well, as we're walking in they tell me that since we are going in they would have to have food too.  Greedy little boogers.  So dinner time it was.  They put us in the booth right next to where the server station is, so Gracie would stand up, look over the wall, and tell whomever happened to be standing there that is was her birthday.  EVERYone in that place knew whose day it was by the time we left.  Logan got an M & M shake, Grace had a hot fudge sundae on the house, I had a turtle milkshake, and we all left happy.

After we got home it was time for presents.  Aunt Catherine got her a Barbie car with a Barbie and the book Matilda; Grammy got her a new outfit and two sets of pajamas that she desperately needed (and loved); Aunt Gessa (Jessica) got her a lovely necklace; and Mawmaw and Poppy got her a Barbie house.  Mommy and daddy got her a new dress and a pillow pet, which she's been dieing to have.  She definitely loved all her presents.
On Sunday afternoon we went to Art Space Studio for Grace's birthday party.  Five of her little friends came and everyone got to paint their first initial.  We had cupcakes and ice cream, followed by presents, and fruit snacks.  I think everyone had a good time, but I was exhausted when it was done.  All in all, I think Grace really enjoyed her birthday this year.

Odd Girl Out

This is my sweet baby girl.

Perhaps you heard that she just turned five.

She is having a tough time with the neighborhood kids.  Or perhaps Joey and I are having a tough time on her behalf, she doesn't always seem that troubled by it.

A family lives behind us with a boy Logan's age (7/8), and a girl who is in kindergarten (so one year older than Grace).  Since our kids were old enough to play outside these two have always come running to join them.  They've always gotten along very well and had a good time.

This spring, the playgroup has expanded.  Now it includes a girl (who happens to be in Logan's class) who has a trampoline.  Gracie, being as outgoing and friendly as she is, has no problem including this new girl in playtime.  However, I think this new girl is a big ole "B".  She's flat out mean to Gracie.  And she's managed to include the little girl from behind our house in the meanness.  All the kids will run up to jump on the trampoline, but trampoline girl tells Gracie she's not allowed to jump because she's too small.  Well, I'll just tell you, Grace is bigger than this girl times two.  So Gracie very patiently stands at the side of the trampoline and watches them jump.  Which breaks my heart.  So occasionally I'll walk out and ask why she's not allowed to jump.  And trampoline girl will say, "Fine, she can jump."  And Gracie will get on the trampoline and start bouncing around, and the others kids, led by trampoline girl, will decide they don't want to jump anymore. 

Recently, we've also added cul-de-sac girl to the group.  She is Logan and trampoline girls age, and follows right in trampoline girls footsteps.  Yesterday, Logan and Grace went out to find some kids to play with.  Ten or so minutes later Logan came back with two boys from up the street to play Wii.  I asked where Grace was and he said, "On the kids behind us back porch."  Joey and I look out the window and are befuddled that Gracie is out there, but with a grown up lady we don't know.  Logan informs us it is cul-de-sacs mom.  We watch her chat with Gracie, then cul-de-sac girl and back yard girl come out with a beach towel, chat to back yard's mom and walk off with cul-de-sacs mom.  Gracie looks a little lost for a moment and Joey is furious at cul-de-sacs mom.  He walks out on the back porch to tell Gracie to come on home. 

When she gets in the house I ask where the other girls went.  Tears coming to her eyes, she says to the pool.  I ask if cul-de-sacs mom asked her to go, too.  She said she was invited, but I have my doubts.  If she was really invited, I can't imagine Grace not wanting to go. 

Joey is furious and says he wants to talk to cul-de-sacs mom.  I explain that we can't force the other girls to be friends with Gracie.  They are all older than her and seem to feel that means they have the right to be mean to her.  If cul-de-sac girl didn't want to invite Gracie we can't force that.  I also feel like running to Grace's rescue isn't exactly the right answer either, though that's absolutely what I want to do each and every time something happens.

In the end, my stomach hurts as I write this.  Grace is a fun, outgoing, friendly girl who has no trouble playing with anyone.  And it breaks my heart for her to have to stand on the side and watch all the other girls be friends.

Go Big Blue!

Just in time for the SEC tournament, a University of Kentucky wreath.

First I bought a pack of white coffee filters and an individual pack of blue fabric dye.  I filled my kitchen sink with water, added the blue dye, and then put in 50 (out of 100) coffee filters.

Once they'd soaked for a while, I took them out and laid them in my garage on newspaper to dry.  I didn't want to lay them directly on the ground for two reasons: (1) I didn't want them to get dirty and (2) I didn't want to turn the garage floor blue.  It didn't take them long to dry, but when I picked them up I realized some of them (not all) had absorbed some of the ink from the newspaper.  Didn't see that coming.

I was now ready to start making my wreath but realized a small problem.  By soaking and drying the coffee filters, I had smoothed out the "ruffly" edges.  Since the plain white ones hadn't been soaked and dried, they were still ruffly.  So, I stopped, filled the sink with warm water, and soaked the plain white ones in plain warm water.  After these had dried, I was ready to go.

I started twisting the filters and hot gluing them onto the wreath, alternating between blue and white.  After I had covered the whole wreath, this is what I had.

Next, I printed the letters U and K in a font I liked in Word, cut them out and traced them onto some white cardboard.  Using the white cardboard letters, I traced that onto white felt.  Then I used blue thread and stitched the white felt onto the white cardboard.  This part sucked.  It's not easy to sew cardboard and my fingers hurt from pushing the needle through and then into my finger.  After much putting it down and picking it up, I finally finished the letters and hot glued them onto the wreath.  This is the final product:

We love it!!!  It is now hanging on my front door for the duration of March madness.  Go big blue!

P.S. Joey and I's alma mater, Morehead State University, won their tournament, the OVC, to get into the NCAA tournament, too.  So we'll be rooting for both of them.

Rainy Day = Crafty Day

This past Sunday was totally yucky here so we stayed inside in our pajamas all day and covered the kitchen table in crafts.  As soon as the kids see me settle in at the kitchen table and start pulling out craft boxes they grab their stuff and come running.

I had a few goals for the day.

1.  Make the Easter wreath I've been planning.
2.  Make St. Patrick's Day pins so none of us get pinched for not wearing green.
3.  Make hairbows!

The kids had the following goals:

1.  Make a mess.
2.  Have fun.

Lucky for them, I was okay with their goals.  They started out creating things using our various supplies, but when Logan saw me get out the felt, he just had to have some.  He requested maroon, yellow, and blue for the Washington Redskins and the Kentucky Wildcats.  This is what he ended up making:

See the UK sign at the bottom?  He cut the letters out of white felt and outlined them in blue.  He was excited about the game they were playing later that afternoon.

Oh, and did you notice the thing on his head?  He found some ribbon and attached the feathers for a cool head...thing.  I don't know.  But you know that as soon as she saw it Grace had to have one, too.

This is them mid creation.  They were funny.

My first task was to make some St. Patrick's Day pins.  I had seen the idea out in blogland so I created my own version.  I Googled 'Shamrock template' and found one that would work.  Then I traced three different sizes onto some green felt.  (The one that inspired me used three different shades of green, but I only had two, so I just used one to keep it looking uniform.)  I then glued the three felt shamrocks together and added a jewel/bead thing (actually left over from my sorority days in college) to the middle.  Then I glued a pin on the back.  Here's the finished product:

I am really pleased with how they turn out and the kids are excited to wear them, so it's a win.

Next, I worked on my Easter wreath, but it's still in progress, so I'll blog about that later.

I then made a few hairbows and pins for Grace and I.  This is an obsession that began around Christmas and I'm trying to remember to take some pictures of all I've made so I can write a blog about that, too.

I then made everyone take a break from what they were doing (because by now they'd wandered off) and we did something fun!  Clean the living room!  It was a big hit.  While cleaning, I came across a Hello Kitty ring Grace had gotten at some birthday party and decided that I might be able to make a Hello Kitty hairbow for her.  You see, she has become obsessed with Hello Kitty.  I bought her a Hello Kitty coloring book and she'll sit for hours coloring in it.  But no jumping around the book.  She started at page one and is going page by page coloring them all. 

Anyway, after the cleaning excitement died down I went back to kitchen table and got to it.  Now, I'll just warn you that since I've kicked off this whole "crafty" thing I've basically made things by stealing other peoples ideas.  This was made using my own ideas.  And here it is:

Again, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  And I think it's really weird she doesn't have a mouth.  Oh, and I posted it on Facebook to see if anyone could tell what it was and my sister immediately got it right.  So, I glued a hair clip on the back and gave it Grace.  Now I just have to wait for a day she "feels like" wearing it.  Oh yes, Miss Opinionated.

Anyway, that was my Sunday.  What started out as rainy, windy, and gross turned very productive.

Extra Kids

Or as Logan called it, a sleepover.

That's right.  For the first time in his 7.5 years, Logan had a sleepover.  Not one, but two boys stayed at our house this past Saturday night.  They are all in Cub Scouts together, but each at different levels.  Their mom is the Treasurer and she came over Saturday afternoon so I could help her get some spreadsheets straightened out.  Then we took all four kids to the park by our house. 

Then, after listening to the kids whine a bit, we realized we hadn't eaten since the Cub Scout pancake breakfast that morning.  So we headed over to Chick Fil A for some yummy chicken and ice cream cones and time for the kids to play in the kiddie area.

While there, Logan and his friends started begging to let them stay the night at our house.  I didn't take much convincing.  Their mom was very adamant about not letting them if it was a bad night, but goodness knows we didn't have anything going on.  Plus, she was planning on coming back Sunday afternoon anyway for some more Treasurer help.

All the boys did really well.  The youngest, a first grader, went back and forth playing with Grace or Logan, while the oldest, a fourth grader, stuck more to himself and played video games.  Logan switched back and forth between both boys.  Grace was enamored since Ethan (the youngest) even played Barbies with her (he later claimed she made him).  Logan had some trouble remembering to share the Wii.  He likes playing it, so anytime he got a turn it became him playing, and no taking turns.  But with anything else they played, they all did great, even managing to include Gracie quite a bit.

I think by the time their mom got back the next day they were all pretty worn out.  Ethan fell asleep waiting for her to finish the Treasurer stuff, Tyler (the older boy) had a bit of a meltdown after learning we weren't going back to the park that day, and Grace fell asleep at 6:00 pm in the recliner.

It was a fun time, I just wish I'd taken a few more pictures to document the event.  Below is the only one I have, of the kids shortly after they woke up.