Craft Day

The kids woke up in a funk today and it was raining for the 6th day in a row here (it started to feel somewhat like Alabama weather until I stepped onto the porch and wasn't hit by a wave of heat) so I decided that all the crafty things the kids got for their birthday should come out and be worked on so that moods would improve and I could get a dose of cloudy sunshine.

We had sun catchers to paint.

And 3D color explosions to trace and watch leap off the page.

And a Disney princess BIG activity book to color, paint and decipher.

And the best craft of the day was painting rocks. Here they are all color primed and ready to go.

Busy, busy at work.

Isaac's finished rocks. He's drawn to red here lately.

Evan Grace's finished rocks, I knew she'd do a rainbow something.

Care to guess which of the rocks I painted? I'm not sure what happened to the unicorn, abscessed tooth maybe? The caterpillar is my favorite one.

And in between all the kids crafts I got to steal a few minutes to work on my stitch. I've also started quilting and didn't remember to snap a picture before I started this post.

Diaper cake anyone?

I helped my sister throw a baby shower for one of her good friends here in Virginia this past weekend. Aside from a lot of cooking and set up it was extremely fun. I love doing that kind of stuff. But I digress...of course if I'm invited to a baby shower I automatically think diaper cake! So I set to work on making one up for Beth (my sisters friend). Since I'm not at my house I didn't have all my extra pretty things to add on to it but I think I improvised pretty well for a spur of the moment cake. I didn't have my normal amount of time to plot and plan on this one. :)

Mackenzie sadly, doesn't come with the cake but she did enjoy posing with the pink puppy on top!

On a side note that really tickled me pink, my sister and I were asked throughout the entire shower by Beth's family (the guests we didn't know all that well) if we catered. I think that says job well done.

Homemade dog treats

So I took the step and ventured into the world of making my own dog treats for Daisy. These were pretty simple, the only thing that was 'work' about them was the amount of rolling, flattening and twisting before they went in the oven. I'll make these again for sure but I think I'll come up with a different shape to use make more of a pretzel looking thing instead of a twist.

I have a few more recipes for dog treats that I'm looking to try after these are gone and I have one recipe for Feline Fish balls that I'll have to try soon as well. I'll test them out on my sisters overweight cat since my kitty is still in Alabama. I'll keep you posted.

Dog Cheese Twists

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
3/4 cup water

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix all ingredients except 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Knead until thoroughly mixed.

Roll dough into quarter-sized balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll balls into pencil-shaped “sticks” and roll in remaining parmesan until coated. Flatten with rolling pin or by hand.

Twist each about 6-8 time and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes. Cool on pan and store in airtight container. Yields 18 sticks.

My flower child.

My mom plants flowers every spring/summer. Then she waters them every night that it doesn't rain. Isaac and Evan Grace have taken to doing this with her. Evan Grace though, has turned into a true flower child. She loves to touch them, clean out the weeds, move the rocks around (instead of mulch..yuck) and pick the few blooms that have come and gone to make way for the new ones. What does she do with her flowers? She gives them to her best friend of almost 4 years, her Pawpaw.

Mackenzie and Isaac are buds with Pawpaw too, but no where near the degree that Evan Grace is. She would literally spend all day every day with her Pawpaw. She's already said she's going to grow up and go to work with 'my Pawpaw'. My dad eats this stuff up. So all flowers are gifted to him, which he graciously accepts and saves until they HAVE to be tossed. But not to worry, Evan Grace has already started on her next batch of flowers for him so he's never without. Here is a beautiful picture of her latest collection. My mom actually let her pick the really good blooms from the flowers this time. Evan Grace was so proud.



Here are the two BFFs riding the new horse tire my dad searched all over for. It's hard to tell who's having the best time.

Come on ride the train!

The elementary school I went to growing up in literally right down the street from my house. It's not even a mile away. So the kids and I have been taking advantage of the playground behind the school and the ancient slide still here. Mackenzie talked Isaac and Evan Grace into a train and I think they liked it judging by their faces. :)

Just a side note: We're really starting to miss all our friends and church family in Alabama. I hope you're all doing well.

Chautauqua Part 1 (Sha Ta g Wah)

Chautauqua, is was the 25 year anniversary of the start of Chautauqua and though it's losing some of it's umph it was still fun. Isaac and Evan Grace had never been and Kenzie only have very tiny memories of it. It's a week full of performers from all over. They have everything from the cloggers down the street to Little Texas and other big name bands. I forget who it was I saw when I was younger that gave his guitar to a little boy in the crowd when he was finished singing. Did I mention it's free too? All you pay for is the food you might want and anything you might want to buy at the booths full of handmade items. I LOVE Chautauqua and though we didn't get to go as much as I wanted to we had a lot of fun while we were there. :)

I was a judge for a cooking contest one year. That was fun, and other years I remember walking through all the local art exhibits and quilt rooms with my grandma. I'm so glad the kids and I got to go this year. Makes me look forward to next year already.

Chautauqua Part 2

Part 2 of our Chautauqua adventure was Friday night. Chairmen of the Board was performing and my mom had to go. I was surprised at how many of the songs I knew!!! "Patches I'm depending on you son"..... you know the rest. :) So we jumped in the van at 8:30 pm, found a parking spot and settled in with cotton candy and snow cones.

As darkness fell the kids started noticing all the flashing glow sticks and necklaces. So Isaac and I made the trek back to all the little booths that were selling things and got a flashing necklace for him and his sisters. They were cute, but a bad idea on my part. It was like a strobe light and anyone that has migraines knows that strobe lights and migraines don't mix.