Aaand...Break!

Life has been undeniably crazy around my house this week. For the handful of readers who actually check in on this blog on a regular basis, know that I have literally been moving from one task to the next and have only had time for the essentials. You know, showers. Eating. Sleeping. Blogging? Not so much.

BUT, I want to. And I will. In a bit. My little family is going to spend the next 10 days together on a well-deserved break. I'm hoping to work more on my blog layout and such, but I won't cry if I don't get a chance to. I'm planning on more indulgent activities (like eating Popsicles) to occupy my time.

When I get back I will regale you with tales of...

~Our first ever family camping trip this past weekend up to Cloudland Canyon. We survived. 6 adults, 6 kids under 4. No one got hurt or maimed. We hiked for over 3 hours one afternoon. It was awesome.

~A homeschool post. 'Nuff said.

~Our break. Popsicles and such.

I leave you now with a couple of Ian-ism's.

When eating his breakfast in the sunroom one brilliantly beautiful spring morning recently Ian said, "It's Sunday, Mama!" Um, it wasn't. I told him so and he replied, "Well, the sun is shining?!?!"

Another sunny morning rolled around and Ian declared that Jesus must live on the sun because he is the Son. I think I giggled about that one for days afterward.

Silhouettes

Over the weekend I made myself a Mother's Day present. Have you seen this idea for silhouettes floating around the interwebs? I'm sure you have...I'm just now catching on to this trend though and when I first saw them I thought, "Hmmm...that looks easy!" So I did it.

 

The first step was to take profile shots of the boys (can I just stop for a moment here and say that it is incredibly challenging to get a profile shot of an 18-month old? but by golly we did and it's pretty good, if I do say so myself.) Then you edit them in whatever editing software you use to scale them to 8x10 size. We also had to fiddle with the scaling a bit to make sure Elijah's profile was (naturally) smaller than Ian's, since I didn't take their picture from the exact same distance. Anyway, if you're lucky (blessed) enough to have an engineer-type around the house like me, then this should be easy peasy. But I think it's pretty easy peasy even if you don't have one of those around...I'm just terrified in general of editing software.

So obviously in the above photo I had already cut the profiles out. I forgot to take a photo of the 8x10 photos before I cut them, but you get the idea. Make sure you print the photos on cardstock. Then, as I mentioned, cut the profiles out! Be sure to get all the features...be precise. I used some sewing scissors that have a good snip to them so that I could get all the little spikes of hair and such. I've seen some examples of silhouettes that include eyelashes and tendrils of hair...I didn't get that detailed.

Then you paint 'em on the flip side (white, non-photo side) using black craft paint. 

When the silhouettes are dry you can glue them (using acid-free glue) to another piece of cardstock. I wrote their name, date, and age on the back. I may make this an every year or every other year activity!

Finally, frame 'em and display 'em. I think they turned out really sweet. This would be a great gift for someone! And it's super easy and inexpensive to do...a win!

This is the resource I used to make my silhouettes.

Mother's Day Hangover

I had a lovely Mother's Day...so lovely in fact that this overcast Monday following it feels a little hangover-ish. 

Above are the beautiful peonies my Dad and Kenita sent...so lovely and sweet smelling!

Saturday we cooked a big brunch here at home and then found a new path to hike at Kennesaw. That evening my sister-in-law Vicki took Ian out on a little date and we had a sitter come watch Elijah so that we could go out. Our dates these days mostly consist of running errands, business meeting-ish talk of schedules, and a good dinner. But that's OK because as long as I'm with the PK it doesn't really matter what we're doing, and we always have fun and end up laughing. A lot.

Sunday morning I got OJ and cinnamon toast prepared for moi, then church with my little family (Vicki oh-so-sweetly took my nursery service so that I could sit in the service). That afternoon I was banished to Rev for some solitary coffee and reading time (may have been the best gift ever!) and then we went out to eat with Paul's parents last night. Steak. Yum. 

More to come on my Mother's Day craft! Still making some slight tweaks to the final product but I LOVE it and am feeling very inspired to do more crafting!

It's Friday!

Happy Weekend!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, well-deserved Mother's Day.

I ask nothing more than time with my little family. 

And maybe some dessert. 

I'm also hoping to work on the blog design a little more over the weekend (you may have noticed that I'm sloooowly starting that process), as well as a little crafting (to be revealed Monday).

Enjoy!

This Is A Job For...

SPIDEYMAN!

OF COURSE we let him get his face painted like Spideyman. 

The world needs more superheros, right?

Chomper Report

Ian had a dentist appointment this morning for a routine cleaning.

That boy is really quite awesome when it comes to stuff like this.

No crying, no worrying, no stress. In fact we don't even go to a pediatric dentist...just the same sweet Dr. Roos that we all go to. Well, by "we all" I mean me.

He clambered up in the "airplane chair" as he kept referring to it and asked non-stop questions. "What is this? What is that? What does this smell like? What does this do? Why do I have to wear glasses? What will this taste like?" And on and on. And on. I like it. He prefers to stay fully informed.

Upon completion of his cleaning, flossing, and flouride application he got checked out by the good doc himself. Who then pronounced our boys chompers as "just perfect".

One Batman toothbrush and mini-flashlight prize from the treasure chest later we were on the road. 

Now when it's Elijah's turn...well, let's all hope and pray that he took notes from his big brother on how to behave at the dentist's office.

Ian-ism

Here's the latest funny Ian-ism. In honor of The Avengers, and in hopes that it will make your Monday a little more fun.

While looking at a dollar bill recently Ian was asked, "What's the name of that president?"

After a moment of thought he replied...

..."Captain America?"

*Weekend Recap: I did everything on my list, practically! Didn't make it to the farmer's market but that was OK...we went on a Silver Comet walk instead. I would like to report that Paul's guacamole and my salsa (which is actually Kenita's recipe and one that I have never, no never made before but it is SO easy...) won the Mexican Food Wars at our Cinco de Mayo party! WoOT.