Keeping Ourselves Busy

Since Brian's been home recovering from his appendectomy and has needed more "quiet" than normal, we've been keeping ourselves busy!

On Sunday, we tried to spend most of the day out of the house so Brian could get some rest.

Before we left, we set up a little reading area
upstairs to enjoy while Mama showered!

And after I showered, we did a little after shower selfie.
#foxphotobomb

We ran a few errands and stopped at Petland to
see lots of pets!  Maya LOVED this little pup.
We visited with several pups in the play areas!

We dressed up quietly as Elsa.

And practiced using our powers.

And we also got warm and cozy in a bubble bath!

On Monday, we decided to get involved in some slime and rainbow art since we've still been on a rainbow kick and St. Patty's Day is this week:

Kate selected the green color and we made homemade slime!

After we cut up a bunch of tissue paper, Kate constructed a rainbow!

Select, crumple, glue, repeat.

Rainbow success!

We also dressed up as Cinderella, complete with
hair up and gloves.
Side note: I already know I'm going to miss these
dress up days one day...

When Maya got up from her nap, she got to play with some slime
too!  I think she also tasted it...

We also tried to teach Maya how to smile for the camera!  Love them!

On Tuesday, we let our curls loose for a little fun at the park and got lots of genuine bath time giggles:

That hair though!  The humidity does wonders for Kate's
gorgeous locks!

On Thursday, St. Patrick's Day, we saw what sort of shenanigans we could keep ourselves busy with at home:

We smiled our big smiles!

Played with some shamrocks on the felt board!

Picked out some fun toys to play with.

Tormented the dog.

And played in the playroom.
#bestillhersweetbabyheart
Those eyes.  Those lips.  That sweet baby perfection!

On Saturday, we once again looked into what sort of fun we could have at home.  Brian was feeling much better and actually went into work for a half of a day on Friday, so our "extra quiet/calm" enforcement was lifted!

Kate wanted to wear my sweatshirt during snack
because she was chilly.  She was dressed as
Princess Jasmine complete with belly showing.

And she looked so stinkin' cute.

I just love her to bits.

This picture cracks me up.  Maya sitting in her seat, Kate eating
Maya's puffs, and Jack watching her every move for any spare
pieces that fall to the floor...  This is my life.  And I love it.

Maya and her peas.  Don't let that face fool you.
She is NOT a fan of peas.

We are thankful that Brian is feeling much better and seems to be recovering quite quickly from surgery.  I imagine we'll still be keeping ourselves busy but that comes with the territory these days!

Outdoor Painting

The weather has just been so wonderful out and Kate has been basking in every moment she can outdoors!  She is constantly inquiring on whether or not we can have dinner outside, so we try to oblige as much as possible!

Today was no exception.  It was beautiful outside and we loaded up our dinner and headed outdoors. The only thing different about today was that we decided to paint after dinner... Oh, and also do it in the nude.  #cleanupmadeeasy

Kate received a sunflower grow kit in her Easter basket and we had received a couple of extra pots from her school and I've been waiting to let her paint her pots so we can plant her sunflower seeds.  This was the perfect opportunity to get those pots decorated!

Of course Jack joins us wherever he can these days!

Our grow kit!

Starting with purple.  One of our favs!

 

Painting our pots!

She has perfected the pot painting technique for sure!

My budding art-eest!

How pretty is Kate's color combination?!  I wouldn't expect anything
less!

Final products!

And a close up of our pots!

I hope to get these seeds planted soon and to teach Kate about the seeds growing while we watch them grow and then hopefully plant them in our yard.  Then again, it's taken almost two months to get the pots decorated so I set no expectations on when the seed planting is going to happen!

In the meantime, we will be enjoying as much as we can of this beautiful outdoor weather!

Finger Painting

Kate's Grandma and Grandpa sent over some finger paint and finger paint paper to her for Valentine's Day this year and we were all a little eager to try them out!

After lunch this past weekend we decided that it was a good time to whip those new paints out and give 'em a whirl!

Starting with our color palette.

Brian and I showed Kate how to "paint" and she was all for it!

She literally made a perfect rainbow on her first try!

Look at those hands!

She loved it!

And when she completed her rainbow, we pulled
another piece of paper out to work on a second
masterpiece!

This girl has got a creative craft gene like her Mama AND her Daddy.  (You all have seen all of the crafts that I have put Brian through and he has always been up for the challenge!  I think he secretly likes it!)

Then again, who doesn't like to make a big mess that they don't have to clean up!?

Proudly displaying the masterpiece on the fridge!

Happy Feet

Last year, we made Santa handprint ornaments out of salt dough.  They were such a huge hit in the family and we loved making them, so this year we decided to make salt dough ornaments again!  But this time we chose to use Kate's footsies instead of her hands and make little penguins!

The penguins were a bit harder than the Santas because we had to paint in many layers over the black penguin body base for the color to show, but they were well worth our time and another family hit!

Click for another art adventure!

Thirty Years Ago

Thirty years ago, my Mom was nearly three months pregnant with yours truly; Brian was nearly five and a half, causing trouble somewhere no doubt.  Nonetheless, it was then that my mommy dearest decided to undertake a very special, very time consuming, very loving art project for her first born: a beautiful, yarn wool embroidered canvas with numbers one to ten and corresponding objects to account for each number.  At one point, it hung in my room.  I remember it not hanging but being hand held.  I remember going through each of the numbers, tracing the perfect stitching with my little fingers, and I remember the "seven hearts" being my favorite.  It is a treasured masterpiece that I hold very dear to my heart.

This special canvas has travelled with me to different homes, to college, to real life outside of college, and all the way to Ohio into our new home.  Throughout all of these years, it has always reminded me of a very special part of my childhood, and I hope it continues to do so.  Unfortunately, throughout all of these years, it has also undergone some moth damage.  Those little buggers.  Some of the yarn was eaten, some of it was frayed from partial snacking, and a few weeks ago I decided to see what could be done to repair such a treasure.  Three shops, five phone calls, and two emails later I found someone who could repair my canvas. And repair is what she did!  Nine different colors of yarn wool were damaged, and the woman who worked with me, Shayna, repaired them all!

I am truly delighted that I was able to get the broken yarn strands fixed.  I cannot put words or a price tag on how meaningful this canvas is to me.  I am so happy to be able to keep a little bit of childhood with me wherever I go, and I am so thankful to have such an amazing, loving, wonderful Mom! 

(For the record, I would have been 100% content if nothing could have been done to repair the stitching.  Just having this canvas art means more to me than anything.  Fortunately, it was able to be repaired, and I could not be happier!)

PS: Happy 11/11/11!