Missing Munchkin

Some days it seems that Munchkin gets lost in the middle.  She isn't in school full time, and doesn't have homework.  She hasn't started violin and just spends most of her days playing or helping me. She does not demand attention like her brother, so some days she doesn't get as much attention. She is growing a lot and loves to hang around with me while Scout naps.  She is fun to watch and play with all by herself, even if she isn't the focus of as much attention some days. 

All the kids and I went to the Children's museum when school was out for MLK day.  I tried to spend some time and attention to just her and leave Scout on my back and let the big kids have some freedom and not quite as much supervision.  It was a lot of fun.

This is just her in the light shadow room, she was having a blast without any sibling competition.

 Next to her impression, she loves to play with this.

Growing up quickly

Scout is growing very quickly and loves to eat. He will eat just about anything.  This week Pineapple.

 He has also learned how to pull himself up to standing... now all paper must be placed much higher.  Paper is is favorite thing to eat.

Tunnel

Scout is finally able to play with the tunnel.  We bought the tunnel when Princess was a baby and everyone has played in it and loves it.  Scout is joining in the fun. 

Munchkin

Buddy

Princess

It is fun to look at each of the kids pictures at about the same age (9-10 months).  It is strange to think that now they are 8, 6, 4 and 9 months.  The time has gone by very quickly.  These are not little babies anymore. Buddy had the same stand up hair that Scout does.  Scouts is just a little bit darker. Princess still had blue eyes at 10 months... I don't even know when they changed, but now they are hazel/green.

They all look like siblings, but each has their own unique style and personality.

Happy New Year and Mermaids again.

We had fantastic weather on New Years day and decided to take a walk around downtown Norfolk.  It was not busy downtown, so we enjoyed beautiful weather and a no crowds. The family playing on the big anchor.

 The requisite mermaid picture, we have done this one already and despite my efforts this time I still don't have everyone looking at the camera.

 The city has started to add artistic bike racks all around the downtown area.  This one is in front of the mall and the kids decided it was close enough to the other mermaids that they needed to get a picture with it.  This time I actually got all 3 big kids to look at me.  However Scout was on Daddy's back and didn't get in the picture at all.

 

Playmobil

My kids love Playmobil.  Thanks to the grandparents their collection of playmobil stuff is growing.  Now the kids tell me they are going to play "city"  They bring out the school, gym, police station, fire engine, 2 motorcycles, a 4 wheeler, a pirate ship, a power boat, and the RV.  Then they add a doll house to the mix and it all covers the living room floor.

It has lots and lots of little pieces, otherwise known as choking hazards.  So it is a naptime only activity, most of the time I like that except that I have to help them pick it all up when Scout wakes up.  It is fun to watch and listen to them talk to each other. 

Chincoteaque

We took 2 days driving south after Christmas.  The family was finally healthy after a week, so we took the scenic route and spent part of the day checking out Chincoteaque. We had lunch at a great restaurant.  We walked along the beach and checked out the wild horses.  I think it would be a great place to spend a summer vacation, there are great hiking/biking trails and a lot of laid back stuff to do.  Maybe someday.....

Ecotarium

We spent a warm and dry Christmas in Massachusetts, so there was no skiing, and we had some sick kids, so a lot of our plans didn't work out.  We did manage to go to the Ecotarium  one day and the kids loved it.  They got to see the river otter and loved to watch him.  They also loved most of the exhibits, rock climbing, animals, wind tunnel and hurricane simulator, but none of my pictures turned out, so you just get to see the river otter.

Christmas 2011

We celebrated our family Christmas a little bit early this year again.  I didn't take many pictures, but we enjoyed the day and the time spent with each other. Daddy was overwhelmed by the pretty tree once we put all the presents underneath. He took pictures of that.

All the kids got new scooters, including Scout.

I also made the kids a fort kit, basically sheets with ties on the edges put in a cool bag with clothespins, rope, clamps and a flashlight.  The kids all loved it and we had to make a fort in the girls room. 

Vacuum boy

Just like a little girl a few years ago, I have a little boy who loves to follow the vaccuum and have it blow his hair. I can pull him around the house and he will follow it.

Munchkin's Birthday

Munchkin is now 4 years old!
She had a great birthday and is seems that time has gone way to quickly.

 This is the bathrobe I made her, it turned out OK, but not great, next time I will make it with thicker fleece.  She loves it and would wear it all day long if I let her.

 She loved her chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting.

Her favorite present was the name hooks that Grandma made her.  She made me hang in right away, but since it has her name on it, I won't post a picture.  Thanks Grandma!!

Teacher Gifts

I picked up a few clipboards at a yard sale this year.  they were brand new with tags on them and only $1 each.  I used some cool paper and a little Mod Podge to turn them into these. Great Teacher gifts.

 The backs are nicer than the front, since hopefully the front will be covered with paper.

 Add a legal pad, a pretty bow and some pens, and they are perfect.

 I made music themed coasters for the violin teacher since she always puts her water on the floor because she doesn't have any coasters in her music room.  Of course right after I gave this to her, she got some water and put it on the floor. :)  Habits are hard to break.  (they are padded with insulbright so that a hot cup of coffee will not be an issue)

More bibs

I love turning my husbands ratty old T-shirts into cute bibs.... This T-shirt was at least 12 years old.  I added Iron-on interfacing to the back and it turned out much better.  I have a LOT more T-shirts to go, so I am searching for more up-cycling projects.

Entertainment

Some days I let the kids find their own entertainment, and some days I am creative and give them something to do.  A sink with soap and some sponges/utensils/funnels/cups... will keep my kids busy for hours.

Scout is crawling and getting into everything.  Some days I work hard to keep him from stuffing avery toy the big kids leave out into his mouth.  I love it when he is happily contained.

Measuring stick

 We are planning on moving in 2012 and I realized that the marks on the door of the laundry room would be lost. They measure the height of the kids as they grow.  I worked with my dad on making this:

Since these pictures were taken, Daddy has transferred all the marks and used a fint tip sharpie.  It worked great, and looks great too.

It was pretty simple, my dad had the board in his pile, so he sanded it down for me, and then we sealed it, I was going to paint it, but that would have required a trip to the store and Scout was sick, so we just sealed it.  Then I added the the lines with a Sharpie. A paint pen would have worked, but we didn't have one in the house and a Sharpie was there. We ventured out to the store and bought 3" vinyl letters, (intended for mailboxes) and put them on before a final coat of sealer. 

6" marks are 3" long and inch marks are 1 1/2 inches long.

Now it is ready for a few more years and we have all the heights recorded for the last 5 years in this house.

Projects

I have a bunch of stuff to post, but my sister is begging for info on how I made my Nook cover.  So here are the pictures for her. 

It is super cool, I took a book that had some pages ripped and cut out all the pages.

Then I cut some fabric to fit the inside and hemmed the edges.

I then placed the Nook on it and marked the spots I wanted the elastic to fit.  I put button holes at these spots and then threaded elastic through them.  It needs to be pretty tight so it doesn't move.

I made these loops and sewed them on the back side.

  I also added a pocket on the facing side, but I should have added interfacing to make it a little stiffer, it flops around too much.  I also added a loop for a pen.

Then I took super strong and smelly E-6000 glue and glued every part of that fabric down.  All the corner, the binding, everything.  Put a heavy book on it to keep it flat and let it dry for 24 hours.  When it was dry this is what it looked like.

It even stands up to watch videos, or look at blogs. 

The outside looks exactly the same and I am sure people wonder what I am doing reading a Dr. Suess book for hours without turning a page, but that is part of the fun.