~Sunny Winter Day Snow Art!~

Ethan and I couldn’t resist going outside today!  The sun was shining and it was unseasonably warm out, in the pluses!  He wasn’t too keen on the idea of going out, he didn’t know what to do…admittedly there isn’t much to do in our backyard, especially in the winter and when Mom isn’t up to jumping around in the snow with him because she’s a day away from the due date with baby #2! 

So I decided to put some of the knowledge of fun things for kids to do that I have collected in my travels and actually DO one of them!  So I went around the house and found a few things to use to fill with colored water.  I used an old spray bottle, empty ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles for the RV, and a Gatorade bottle with a hole punched through the lid.  I used just ordinary food coloring and water, filled the bottles and out we went. 

He started off slow…not really getting into the swing of what he could do with them.  Finally he started using them to color “tracks” around the backyard and ‘wash’ the fence and chairs.  It was a gorgeous day outside, sun shining and so warm!  I hauled a folding chair outside and my camera and soaked up some Vitamin D while he played.  It was the most fun I’ve had in weeks!  Our backyard looks like it’s been attacked and is a colorful blend of yellow, blue, red and green.  We went through 2 fills of the bottles and I had a hard time convincing him to stop after 2 hours.  He made me promise that we would do it again which I totally agreed to!  I don’t know if we’ll get that warm of weather again for awhile though, it was glorious!

Here are some pictures of the day…it was nice to take out my SLR and snap some pictures, it’s been awhile since I’ve pulled it out!

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~Ethan’s Art~

Given that it is winter and we have some crappy windows in the house and we have a humidifier we often have condensation on our windows.  Ethan decided to use the opportunity the other day to do some art on the windows…

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He pulled up a stool and went up as high as his little arms would reach.  I thought it was the greatest idea and kept him entertained for about a half an hour!

~Fathers Day~

Well we had a great, quiet Fathers’ Day around these parts.  I took the day off from work so that I could spend it at home with my boys.  I made Randy a HUGE breakfast of pancakes, sausages, eggs and toast.  He really enjoyed it and so did I! 

While Daddy slept in, Ethan and I did some art for him in the morning.  We made him a card and colored the box his present came in.  Ethan loves coloring, he’s quite the artist, LOL!

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For Fathers’ Day Ethan gave him a photo frame that he made at daycare and we got him the DVD collection ‘Life’.

We watched a few episodes last night.  Such phenomenal photography in these series!  We are collecting all the BBC Earth shows, someday Ethan will learn so much from them!

For the rest of the day we did a little shopping for clothes for Ethan and Randy, then did some yard work while Ethan napped.  Supper was steak, baked potato, and asparagus with yummy red wine and chocolate cake for dessert.  MMmmmmm!

It was a fun day and we go lots done at the same time!  Hope all the other Fathers’ out there had a special day like Randy did! 

~Welcome Wreath~

Well you will remember that I said I was using an idea from Tatertots and Jello to make a wreath for our house.  Well I bought all the stuff I needed for it right away and worked on cutting a kajillion burlap flowers for a couple of nights.  That stuff is seriously itchy!!!  Anyhow I found some fabric that I liked and cut those flowers out another night.  I spent one night making the actual flowers and stopped when I had 27 done.  I needed over a hundred and it was taking FOREVER!!!  So I set it aside for about a week and during a particularly boring conference call I had to take the other night I finished it!  I LOVE how it turned out!  There are a few things that I learned from making this one that I will apply to a next one that I make but what a super easy, fun project!

So this is my final result:

 

I went with just a simple Welcome message on a piece of twill that says Live Long, Laugh Often, Love Much.  Here are some closer shots of it!

 

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So next time I will just use two types of fabric and will make more just burlap flowers.  It was hard to layer it without having too much of the same look concentrated in one spot.

The unfortunate thing is that I can’t hang it on my front door.  My screen door is too close to it and it won’t fit between them.  So I’ve just hung it at my entrance for now.  Anyhow, I can’t wait to do another one, I like the idea of updating it for the seasons.  I have lots of ideas now!

~Fathers' Day~

Well we didn't make it to the lake on Sunday as planned. The weather was a little sketchy and we sent the Dads golfing for Fathers' Day and they were gone too long. So no picnic for us! We still had a fun day though and got to hang out together. We went for a family drive to Pipestone Park to check it out. If not for the mosquitos the size of hummingbirds it would have been great! We are looking forward to planning some family camping trips there when Ethan is a bit bigger. (and when I have my RV back, I'm not gonna lie, tenting it is for the birds!)

Anyhow, as I've said before, we love Ethans' daycare provider Aimie! She even plans for crafts with kids Ethans' age! This is the artwork that was sent home for Fathers' Day!



We just love that we are already getting artwork from him! Such a great treat!!!

Anyhow, we finished off Fathers Day with a massive BBQ of steak and potatoes...no veggies as per Randy's request, LOL! Another nice family day for summer!