B is for Bee

Ryan and I have started working (more intentionally) on our alphabet and numbers. I finally decided on a weekly "plan" to help me keep on track. The goal as of now is to do one letter a week, and two numbers a week. We did 'A' a few weeks ago then had to take a week off due to the fact that I ran out of printer paper to print off half his projects. This week was the letter 'B'. I had a friend lead me to this website which has TONS of creative ideas to use for your kids. I downloaded the Alphabet Craft book to use. My goal is to also head to the library once a week, preferably on Mondays, and pick out books that have the letter of the week in the title. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly this week! The craft for this week was a bee and one of the books we picked up was Brilliant Bees by Linda Glaser. So after we made our Bees Ryan wanted to head outside to find some flowers for his honeybee so they could make some honey. And then he also chased me with it and "stung" me and informed me that then his bee died. So not only did he learn a new letter, but he learned about bees! How cool is that?! Colin also made a bee (with mom's help) and he was flying his around making buzzing noises. I'm so proud of my boys! Here are a few pics of the bee searching for a flower.

Pool Play Date!

For this upcoming year I have volunteered to be on the Steering Team for our MOPS group. Our mentor for the year, Ms. Melanie, has been kind enough to open up her home on Friday mornings for the remainder of the summer to let us come over and take advantage of her pool. The boys had a great time and we were excited that some of our other friends showed up too.
Caleb enjoying the safety of the floaty.

Ryan playing with Ms. Melanie.

Ms. Angie and Kade

Kade and Colin enjoying some time in the swing after swimming.

Getting to feed the donkey..I forgot his name.

Homemade Cards

Let me start by saying I am no "stamper". I have seen cards far more intricate than mine. Tim's Grandma is an expert card maker and we always enjoy getting something from her on holidays and birthdays. I don't always make cards for birthdays, showers, etc, but there are a few reasons I got started. First, I was bored. I needed a project. A creative outlet. Second, I switched to digital scrapbooking and I have TONS of paper left over. Thirdly, why spend the money on buying birthday cards, when I have tons of paper to make my own? So this is my latest batch. I added a few things to some of them after the pic was taken. The hardest part for me is trying to figure out what to write on them. So most of them are still blank.

Aprons

One of my first projects I wanted to do after I was gifted my sewing machine was to make myself and the boys some aprons for the kitchen. I'm not a huge cook, but I do like to bake on occasions and I tend to get messy. And of course if you've ever attempted to cook/bake with a little one the flour and sugar tends to fly! I really like how the boys' aprons turned out. I orignally only bought one yard of fabric but then decided that they would probably be stronger/cuter if I doubled it. So I got these really cute two sided aprons...

I didn't get a picture of mine yet. I'm not quite fond of it at the moment. It turned out fine, don't get me wrong. But I chose a vertical stripped pattern for one side and with my current "belly" it's just not that becoming. Maybe I can get a model. (Tim should be very thankful he's not around right now. Haha.)

Owl Teethers

I think there has been an owl craze lately for anything baby. But who can blame them? They are super cute! I've even been tempted to go with an owl theme for Blaine's room, but the Guitar Rock-star won out. I first saw these on my friend's blog here and they were one of the first things on my list to make after my husband bought me my sewing machine. (Which by the way, my husband buying me a sewing machine can very much be attributed to Krystle's blog. I only talked about it everyday a new project was posted claiming, "I could make that!" So thank you Krystle!) When I make some more I think I'm going to try to elongate the body a tad more. Mine kind of seem short and stubby. Although I'm sure no baby will really mind.



The owl in the middle has already been re-homed. The one on the left is for Blaine and the one on the right has yet to find a home. It won't be long though, since I currently know five other pregnant ladies!

Hanging Crib Bag

So I saw this idea here. I love the idea of baby having something within reach to play with when he/she wakes up without mom having to rush in and entertain right away. I had a baby shower to attend and I wanted to give this a try. I didn't attempt making my own bag this time, so I just grabbed this canvas bag from Hobby Lobby for $3.00. I also picked up some little iron-on sport that were on sale since baby's room had a sports theme. The iron on letters were a little more expensive, but I have plenty left to use for another project. I really had to dig the tip of my iron into the men/letters to get them to stick well. I took out the stitch for the handle on the front of the bag, removed the handle, and restitched the top. Then I cut the handle on the back side in half. I sewed across each side to keep it from unwraveling. The original blog says to use snaps, but I wasn't really sure if I needed an extra tool for those so I went with velcrow instead. Sewed it on and wa-la! We piled the bag full of books and toys and hung it on our crib for a trial run. It held up just fine with the velcrow. I will definitely be making one of these for my next one! (Sorry it's not the best picture.)

A Box From Grandma!

We got a box in the mail last week from Grandma w/3 dogs. (This is how Ryan distingushes one Grandma to the other..by the number of dogs they own.) We got some construction paper, books, tissue paper, and two sets of 3D chalk! Grandma is good to us!




I'm still not sure what makes the 3D chalk so special besides the fancy glasses you put on. The color is a little richer than regular chalk, but still planning on trying out the regular chalk to see if it will work.