Here are a couple items for the "Silly Speaks" file:
2/15/14
JD likes to join Annabeth in the bathtub. Tonight he was pouring cup after cup of water onto her little bath baby doll "trying to drown her". Before I could even tell him that wasn't a very nice thing to do Hayden straightened him out. "Uh, JD, that's called water boarding."
1/24/13
While doing school with JD today I asked him if he knew a letter. It was the letter I. He said no, he forgot which letter it was. I told him it was the letter I and that it says (short i sound). He replied, "Oh yeah! I (short i sound) like intimate." Um, yeah. I was thinking igloo or icky, but intimate works too.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Sibling Exchange
This year we had our first sibling exchange! No, we didn't exchange any siblings… the siblings exchanged gifts! Some of the kids enjoy giving gifts more than others so I thought this would be good for those who truly enjoy giving and make it easier on those who might feel overwhelmed. Plus I would rather not end up with a 50 dollar store toys after everyone buys something for everyone else. So we decided to do a $10 gift exchange for one sibling. That way the sibling could get something a little nicer and the giver could really put some thought into the gift without being overwhelmed. Everyone except Annabeth even used their own money to buy the gift.
I pulled out my old copy of the Tightwad Gazette so I could copy her gift exchange wheel. The hardest part was dividing a circle into seven! (Why, why, why couldn't I have an even number of children?!) I ended up printing a circle off the internet instead of trying to do the math myself. I used that circle as a template to draw onto card stock. The best part? This gift wheel will last us until 2018!
I put the names in random order and told everyone who they were buying for. Everyone was excited and the planning started!
Hayden's gift came from Roz. He loved his new Minecraft Steve figure.
JD chose a nice digital watch for Justus.
Hayden had a hard time finding something for Eli. He ended up giving him some loom bands and a big container of cotton candy from the candy section at Walmart. Eli loved both!
Eli gave Wesley some much-needed new slippers and a big bottle of bubble bath. Wesley had been trying to guess what Eli had bought. The bubble bath made the box heavy and lop-sided. He was pretty surprised to find out what he got!
Justus did his shopping online. He chose a fun, reusable cup for Roz and she opened it with us watching via video chat. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that.
I think a new tradition has been born!
I pulled out my old copy of the Tightwad Gazette so I could copy her gift exchange wheel. The hardest part was dividing a circle into seven! (Why, why, why couldn't I have an even number of children?!) I ended up printing a circle off the internet instead of trying to do the math myself. I used that circle as a template to draw onto card stock. The best part? This gift wheel will last us until 2018!
I put the names in random order and told everyone who they were buying for. Everyone was excited and the planning started!
We had to plan ahead a bit for Justus to send Roz her gift since she wasn't joining us for Christmas and Roz had to mail Hayden's gift here.
Each kid shopped for and wrapped their gifts and I allowed them to put them under the tree. This was a special treat since I normally keep all gifts put away until they go to bed on Christmas Eve. They enjoyed shaking and guessing what was in their package and my decision to not put out our gifts for them until the last minute was reaffirmed!
The kids talked me into letting them open the sibling gifts on Christmas Eve, which worked out quite well in the end. I think we may have started a new tradition! It gave us plenty of time to let both the giver and receiver enjoy the moment. The gifts were treasured because they weren't set aside to open the next item.
Wesley had Annabeth's name and he chose a big baby doll for her that she had seen, and loved, at the store. Annabeth named her "Big Baby".
Hayden's gift came from Roz. He loved his new Minecraft Steve figure.
JD chose a nice digital watch for Justus.
Hayden had a hard time finding something for Eli. He ended up giving him some loom bands and a big container of cotton candy from the candy section at Walmart. Eli loved both!
Eli gave Wesley some much-needed new slippers and a big bottle of bubble bath. Wesley had been trying to guess what Eli had bought. The bubble bath made the box heavy and lop-sided. He was pretty surprised to find out what he got!
Justus did his shopping online. He chose a fun, reusable cup for Roz and she opened it with us watching via video chat. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that.
I think a new tradition has been born!
Friday, December 27, 2013
Bookmarks
We like to give homemade gifts. They're fun to make and we know that someone won't receive two of the same gift! We give all the grandparents a photo calendar every year. I think we've been doing the calendar now since Roz was three or four… in other words, a long time!
This year we decided to make another photo gift for the Arizona grandparents. [We didn't make a set for Grandma Linda because she reads books on her Kindle and doesn't need a bookmark anymore!]
I had seen this idea on Pinterest and thought it might be a fun project. The boys helped. They chose what color they wanted their tassels to be and helped make them. It was pretty easy - just wrapped some embroidery floss around a some cardboard and tied it off after cutting.
I took the photos one morning and sent them to the one-hour photo for Jerry to pick up on his way home. The boys understood they were supposed look like they were hanging from a rope and posed nicely. Annabeth, of course, had no clue what we were doing! She tried to copy her brothers, but never stood still enough for me to get a good shot. I ended up having to lay her on the floor. It worked though!
The cutting was probably the hardest part because you have to trim very carefully and as close as possible. Once that was done, I laminated them and punched a hole to attach the tassel.
I wanted to package them nicely so they didn't get tangled and so they looked cute when they were opened. I thought about it awhile and finally decided to cut slits into a piece of card stock to hold the tassels. Then I made a label and "packaged" them.
If you don't have any bookworms in your family (I can't imagine!) then these would make really cute Christmas tree ornaments. You wouldn't even need to make tassels if you were using them as ornaments.
They turned out even better than we expected! They were a big hit with the grandparents and Jerry requested a set for himself.
This year we decided to make another photo gift for the Arizona grandparents. [We didn't make a set for Grandma Linda because she reads books on her Kindle and doesn't need a bookmark anymore!]
I had seen this idea on Pinterest and thought it might be a fun project. The boys helped. They chose what color they wanted their tassels to be and helped make them. It was pretty easy - just wrapped some embroidery floss around a some cardboard and tied it off after cutting.
I took the photos one morning and sent them to the one-hour photo for Jerry to pick up on his way home. The boys understood they were supposed look like they were hanging from a rope and posed nicely. Annabeth, of course, had no clue what we were doing! She tried to copy her brothers, but never stood still enough for me to get a good shot. I ended up having to lay her on the floor. It worked though!
The cutting was probably the hardest part because you have to trim very carefully and as close as possible. Once that was done, I laminated them and punched a hole to attach the tassel.
I wanted to package them nicely so they didn't get tangled and so they looked cute when they were opened. I thought about it awhile and finally decided to cut slits into a piece of card stock to hold the tassels. Then I made a label and "packaged" them.
If you don't have any bookworms in your family (I can't imagine!) then these would make really cute Christmas tree ornaments. You wouldn't even need to make tassels if you were using them as ornaments.
They turned out even better than we expected! They were a big hit with the grandparents and Jerry requested a set for himself.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Team Cookie 2013
It's not Christmas until you make cut-out sugar cookies! We were a little late this year. I baked the cookies on the 23rd and we decorated them on Christmas Eve morning.
Remember that old commercial with an egg that said, "this is your brain" followed by the eggs in a frying pan with "this is your brain on drugs"?
These are my sugar cookies.
These are my sugar cookies on Facebook.
Right after I put the last couple cookies into the oven, I popped on Facebook for a "minute". A minute turned into a few and I ended up over-cooking them. The kids ate them anyway.
I make the dough and bake the cookies. Then we put the kids to work decorating the cookies. The past few years the kids have actually started being helpful. Jerry supervises and transports cookies back and forth. It was a good year, not one cookie was dropped!
Thankfully, this wasn't our first rodeo and we had anticipated this. We had set her up with her own little bowl of frosting and special tools.
We definitely missed having Roz here to help. Cookie decorating is a long-standing family tradition! And it was a good batch of cookies this year too! Here is Team Cookie 2013!
And here is the fruit of our labor!
Now we're officially ready for Christmas!
Remember that old commercial with an egg that said, "this is your brain" followed by the eggs in a frying pan with "this is your brain on drugs"?
These are my sugar cookies.
These are my sugar cookies on Facebook.
Right after I put the last couple cookies into the oven, I popped on Facebook for a "minute". A minute turned into a few and I ended up over-cooking them. The kids ate them anyway.
I make the dough and bake the cookies. Then we put the kids to work decorating the cookies. The past few years the kids have actually started being helpful. Jerry supervises and transports cookies back and forth. It was a good year, not one cookie was dropped!
Only one little cookie decorator wouldn't pass the Food Handler's class. She started out on the right track...
…but starting eating the product after just a few minutes.
Thankfully, this wasn't our first rodeo and we had anticipated this. We had set her up with her own little bowl of frosting and special tools.
We definitely missed having Roz here to help. Cookie decorating is a long-standing family tradition! And it was a good batch of cookies this year too! Here is Team Cookie 2013!
And here is the fruit of our labor!
Now we're officially ready for Christmas!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Pretty Girl
Here are a few photos of Annabeth in her pretty dress by the Christmas tree. I took them right before we left for church. I wish the first one would have been in better focus.
This what happens when you "say cheese"!
The teen years are a long way off, but she's already rolling her eyes.
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