Painting

My brother and sister-in-law gifted the boys some new paints for Christmas.

Zac has been itching to have a go with them and this week I think we've had them out almost every day.

It's funny though, because every time he paints anything (could be a blop or a paint brush drop), he asks me to take a picture of him.

And of course I do!

Unfortunately this is how most of the shots turn out...

This was Eli's first go with paints while I was watching him. Hubby's given them to him before but I'm all paranoid he's going to try and eat them so I've been avoiding it... that being said, he is getting old enough that I can't leave him out of the fun anymore, so I buckled down and handed him over the paint brush this time.

He had a great time too.

I love so much that kids love to create! No matter how much of a mood either of them are in if you ask if they'd like to do a craft they're covered with instant smiles and run to the table to get their hands dirty as fast as their little feet can take them.

Just like their mommy!!

Embrace the Camera

I've been feeling a bit sappy these last few days so yesterday I went through all the boys baby pictures.

I really can't believe how fast the time seems to have gone!

They were just so little once upon a time!

(Zac, 1 week old)

(Eli, 3 days old)

Now I know, they're still little, being 20 months and 3 years old...but they're so much bigger then they were!

I'm not really sure how I'm going to handle it when they're 12 or older... my heart aches just thinking they could ever be that old!!

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids

A friend of mine recently posted this little article on her facebook and when I read it I laughed my face off.

I'm not typically one to laugh out loud when I read something, but I was laughing pretty hard at some spots in this. Hubby thought I was loosing my mind a little bit.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids

by Amy Lawrence

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.

Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Christmas Goodie Bags

This year and last I sent Christmas Baking home to my family in ON.

I've decided it's going to be a tradition, as I enjoy baking during the holidays (as you already know!) and I need to get it out of the house so I don't eat it all.

Last year my packaging was pretty simple, just plastic containers wrapped with tissue paper and ribbon, but I really wanted to make this year fun.

I like the idea of my family being excited to see how I'm going to package up their goodies.

I have 3 nephews and 2 nieces and last Christmas I sent the ones that were old enough a couple of cookies that they didn't have to share and a big lollipop.

This year I wanted more of a goodie bag feel.

I sewed them each their own little bag, tailoring each to their likes and filled them with goodies I thought they would enjoy.

Seriously, it was so.much.fun.!

I followed the basic guidelines of this pattern to make most of the bags, changing some of the measurements and adding an appliqued initial on each.

I filled the girls bags with hair accessories, earrings, toy ponies (sparkly ones!) and a little art kit.

The older boys were given pool noodle swords, mini transformer toys (each his favourite one) a placemat with their Transformer hero on it and an art kit.

My youngest nephew was given a ball, some puzzle pieces, a couple books and some plastic farm animals.

(I made my mom lay them out and take a picture of them all together, filled and waiting... cuz I'm high maintenance like that!)

They all seemed to really enjoy them! My sister in law took a video of them opening them so I wouldn't miss anything and it ment so much to me to feel like I was there for some of the reaction/excitement.

All my effort went into the kiddies this year so the adults were given store bought lunch carriers (more for the ladies...), I still think they're pretty great though!

I'm already thinking up ideas for next year!!

Musical Monday: Sugarland - Stuck Like Glue

This one's for my mister!

Love you babe!

xo

Crack Me Up

These boys crack me up!

I am having so much fun parenting my two little guys and just hanging out with them everyday.

Zachary's newest thing is to throw his arms up in the air, shake his hands and say "Hallelujah!" in a high sing song voice.

I have no idea where he came up with it as I can't think of where he would have seen anyone do it! Now, we are a church going, bible believing, Jesus loving family, but our church is pretty relaxed as far as the random out bursts go, and hubby and I don't often run around our house throwing our arms up and singing praises, perhaps we should, but we don't. So where he picked this up from is beyond me!

And little Eli has discovered a bicycle helmet and has fallen madly in love. He wears it everywhere, all the time. I can't help but chuckle everytime I see this chubby little face smushed under that helmet!

He's always so proud to have it on!!

Journalling

I'm doing an online journaling class that I'm loving!

It's being taught by Janel over at Run with Scissors.

I love seeing her journals so I thought I'd sign up for her New Year New You class.

It's great fun, and surprisingly challenging!

I'm not one to think too deep about my goals or reflect on life, so it's been fun to think a little harder about goals that I'd like to set for myself and how I'd like to better myself over the next year.

(yes I know I spelled "knit" wrong on my page... I'm lost without spell check...)

I'm a few days behind, but thought I'd share what I do have so far.

The idea behind the class is that she gives you prompts and challenges. So a prompt might be something like, set 4-5 goals to accomplish over 2011 and the challenge could be to add cut outs to your sheets to make it a multi page idea (see above photos), to add a fiber to your page, etc.

The next few "assignments" are forcing me to think a little more outside my box then usual for the prompts so it's taking me a bit longer to get them done, but I'm hoping to catch up sometime this week!

I'll share more soon!