Come and get it birds!

As a craft major at DSU I took fiber arts classes. We made paper, baskets, loom weaving, surface design, book making, etc. One cool exercise we did was try to make a bird's nest like a real bird would. man, it was kinda hard. It definitely didn't look like the real thing. Real bird's nest are tightly woven and strong. I have read about people making a little thing filled with string, yarn, etc. for the birds to use in their nest. I noticed a little bird hovering over the ground and picking up things so I figured she was building a nest. The girls were playing and I was sewing the last Cubbie patch on Bay's vest outside. At first, I told the girls to go throw some thread near where the bird kept coming. Then I decided it was time to make one of those things(I don't kow what they are called). So, I grabbed a plastic bag/net that our oranges were in and the girls and I filled it with dried grass, thread, strips of ribbon I cut, string, yarn, fresh grass, flowers, and leaves. The last three probably won't make it in the nest but it was fun for the girls. Maybe once the green grass dries out it can be used. I hung it near the bird feeder hoping that when they came to eat they would see that there is also building supplies. Not sure if that is the best place for it. I haven't seen any birds taking anything from it yet. It looks kind of weird and disgusting hanging there. Tony said, "what is that thing?". maybe I should move it. Wouldn't that be cool if you found a nest with purple string in it that you had given to the bird? Usually, ever year there is a nest in that "burning" bush seen in the picture above. I don't think they have made it yet so hopefully they might find interest in what we have to offer. The birds will probably laugh at this thing and never take a strand.

Pegasus Parade 2010

I was thinking it would be nice to go to the Pegasus Parade but knew I would have to go alone and downtwn kinda freaks me out with the one way streets and parking. Tony had to practice for his gig at Southeast Christian Church this coming monday evening. He is super excited and gets to play with his awesome music friends. ANYWAY, Amy asked us to go to the parade because she didn't want to take the kids by herself either. Yes we will go. We all fit in her awesome van. That doesn't happen very often. Gotta get one of those soon! We headed downtown. We walked to Broadway in the beautiful weather. Here is Bay and Julia as we were walking to the parade. Here we are scoping out the area to find a good spot.

Bay, Julia, and Kat are all in the choir and the theme is patriotic parade. So this was kinda like a field trip(they are pumped for their performance and parade this Sunday evening). We had snacks and a picnic dinner. I really enjoyed the marching bands.

June likes baby Elliot.

I don't know if you watch the biggest loser but Coach Mo was in the parade. That was kinda neat to see him. After a couple of hours it was time to change a diaper so we packed it up and headed back. Stopped at the library for their bathroom. Soooooooo much better than a port-a-potty. The girls (and probably baby Elliot too) enjoyed the walk back. Julia wanted her picture taken in front of this big building with steps and columns so we took a break for pictures. We finally got a group picture of them. Bay said her favorite part of the parade was the clowns. June's favorite part was the horses. And not this horse, the real ones are what she liked.

Suncatchers,Chopsticks,and Giggles

Here are our crayon suncatchers. It is crayon shavings between two sheets of wax paper and then ironed to melt. We cut shapes out and then hung them in the window. Cut to any seasonal shape and use whatever colors you want. Bay was sharpening her crayons one day so we just kept the shavings. You could also use a veggie peeler. I got this idea from The Artful Parent. This picture was taken on a not-so-sunny day but they are still beautful.

Here is Bay with her chopsticks from P.F. Changs restaurant. She is really good at it and wants to use them to eat often.

And here is adorable silly Junie. We are waiting for Bay at her dance class.

Highlands

Tony was off work this past Saturday and he wanted to hang out in the highlands. They have neat shops and neat people that walk the streets. We ate at Mark's Feed Store. Then we went to a couple of music stores for Daddy.


Bay said, "Mom, I like the pink one"

Bay took a picture of us. I had the zoom set too close. Didn't feel like trying again.

I thought the red stairs were cool.
We are all getting a head cold at the moment and this just wore June slap out. She fell asleep on the way home. We were trying to keep her awake. She thought it was funny but just couldn't keep her eyes open. If you look closely at the picture you can see her smiling while asleep.

April fun

I guess we have been doing a lot lately because I have a bunch of pictures for this month. Here is a few of them. All of these are appropriate for Earth Day. Here is Bay and June with their earth day crowns. I recycled a cereal box and stapled the leaves on them. I got the idea from the Chasing Cheerios blog. I only had a few staples left so they aren't as full as I wanted them to be. The girls got the point and it was fun to wear them for a minute.

This is the girls playing with Emerson in the green sand.

And this is June climbing a tree at the park.

And after takning this picture of Bay in the clovers I thought it would be awesome to have a yard with just clovers. no grass. just a thought.

"God doesn't know dance"

Bay has been having little melt downs frequently at dance class. She will start to dance and then something happens in her head and she won't dance anymore. She loves her teacher and loves to dance. She gets excited every monday. When she gets in her mood and won't dance she won't tell us why. It is probably her personality and her age. I have tried a few things. In the beginning, it was dance or go home. That kinda worked. The candy as a reward from the teacher doesn't work. Now we stay and watch when she won't dance because I will not raise a quitter. Last monday, I decided to have a talk alone with Bay. I told her that if she needs anything, her teacher was there to help. "Your teacher loves you. Just ask her if you need something", I said. Then I told her that she could always pray to God if she needed Him. Bay replied, "but He doesn't know dance". Oh, yes He does. He knows about everything. Bay said, "He doesn't know me". My heart broke. "Bay he knows you. He made you", I replied. It is so easy for me to know that God created her because I felt her grow inside me. I watched her grow. I know she was created by an awesome God who knows all our troubles and worries. But how many times do we think God doesn't understand our situation? But he always does. Jesus experienced every emotion we have and he conquered all temptations. We can look to Him for hope and strength. For He is in control, not us. We have to learn to rely completely on Him. I will contiue to teach Bay this. She is like me is soooooo many ways and Tony even spoke about how she is a control freak like me. She has to have everything the way she wants it or else she freaks out. So when dance class doesn't go the way she wants it, I guess she gives up. She needs lots of love and encouragement. Thank you God for using my children to teach me about you everyday.

New beginnings

Thanks to a dear friend I now have new running shoes and clothing. Now to start running! I am also about to start the new pottery class today (hopefully). Not sure how many members we will have. I called to find out the last minute details: No one is officially signed up :( There are lots of interested people so maybe they will show up and then sign up. If this one doesn't work we will try again and hopefully advertise more. I truly believe this is one of Louisville's best secrets. Here is a picture of the Beechmont Community Center pottery studio. It is a nice size and pretty clean. Some tables and shelves need to be cleaned off but I can work around that. Just give me the new clay and the people and we can make something. I will figure out all the clutter and a new home for it as I go. You know artists: they keep everything! Eventually, I think I will make them sign a sheet saying they will pick up artwork by certain date or it will be trash. Too harsh?

firepit

We have been enjoying our firepit in the evenings. There is something special about a fire to me. It makes me happy. We collect our sticks until we get a good amount and then we enjoy some family time before bed watching the fire. Bay and June like the little sparks that rise from the fire. We told them they were fire fairies. They love it. We roast marshmallows if we have them. Here we are roasting strawberry marshmallows.1st Lesson learned here: save the pink ones for cold snacks not hot ones. The regular ones are MUCH better toasted. 2nd lesson learned: When the marshmallow is consumed by fire and you begin to blow on it, make sure all little bare feet are a safe distance away. I think some may have landed on Junes feet. No burns. She is alright. Thanks to Tony, we have it on film to prove how much of an idiot I am. You can see the ball of fire and June in the process of stepping back. You will have to excuse June in her training panties. Now that it has warmed up she stays half naked so we have less laundry while we practice using the potty.

Easter

We went to a "He Lives" Easter party Friday complete with craft, story, parachute game, picnic snack, and an egg hunt. Here is a picture of all the kids. June is on the left standing. Bay is on the right making funny faces. Then, Saturday we hunted eggs all day. Sunday, was church and a visit with Mimi and Poppy. The girls were so beautiful in their dresses.

Bay took this picture of me and June. Daddy had to go to church early to greet people.June took this picture. It was a little tricky for her but we got the shot.

Bunnies and Bird Nests

The girls had been wanting to paint so I came up with an Easter craft. I always see neat handprint paintings in the church preschool classrooms so I wanted to try it too. I let the girls stamp there fists and fingers to make bunnies and easter eggs in the grass. After seeing them hung up, Bay and I discussed that we had never seen pink bunnies before and how they should be white. oh well, it is Easter. Everything is pastel. Even bunnies. Then today, I decided to make the bird nest treats. I think we will give some to our neighbors and of course save some for Daddy.

They are basically rice crispie treats with candy eggs in them. The nests are honey bunches of oats(because that's what I had) or corn flakes and toasted coconut. We put whopper eggs in them. I usually print the recipes I find so that it has a reference on it. This one I wrote down for some reason and I don't know where I got it from. If you google "no-bake easter bird nests" there are a ton of different ways to make them. *Okay*I found out that it came from the artful parent blog. Her blog is in the left column of my blog. I figured it was one of them.

Here is the recipe:

No bake Bird Nests

34 lg marshmallows

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups cornflakes

1/4 cup toasted coconut

candy eggs

In large saucepan stir marshmallows and butter on low to med. heat. Add vanilla. Stir until melted. remove from heat. Fold in cornflakes and coconut. drop by tablespoons (depending on how big you wan the nest to be) into a greased muffin cup. Oil your fingers before you press down and pinch edges. remove and place on wax/parchment paper to cool. add candy eggs.Cover and let harden. store in airtight container. makes 23-36 nest depending on size of nests. Mine made 23.

family tree

This is so cute! and affordable! Maybe a mother's day present for me. hint hint. I always love artsy family stuff with children's names on it but I hate to buy them now because I don't think our family is complete yet. sometimes I like to just blog about cool stuff so I can go back and find it later when I am ready or have the money. This is a great gift for others that I know their family is complete.