Ballerina Rian

Rian has been enjoying her first ballet class especially since she gets to wear a pink skirt, sparkly ballet slippers and a leotard (thanks Emma)! Rian's friend Lauryn is also in the class with her. On the first day of class Rian held Lauryn's hand until she felt more comfortable with her new teacher Ms. Jennifer and the other ballerinas. Here are a few videos of ballet class and the two ballerina friends (Lauryn has brown hair and is taller than Rian):

Crafty Crew

I recently saw pictures in a magazine of some super cute cards that could be used either for Valentine's Day or for Spring and I thought "I can do that". So the girls and I gave it a try and here are pictures of the process:

Supplies:
large cup cake wrappers, small cup cake holders, green construction paper cut into strips for stems and leaves, glue, markers or washable paint.

Also you will need two sheets of coordinating paper to make the card - fold one piece in half and cut the second sheet in half and glue it to the front of the first folded piece. (below you can see the dark pink on top of the light pink card)

1)After cutting out the stems and leaves glue them to the card.

2) color or paint your cup cake liners as Rian has done here. Then glue the large one on top of the stem and the small liner on top of this to make the center of the flower.

All Done!

Sleepy Head

Over the last week Drew has really started getting around. He started off with crawling and ended the week pulling up to a standing position, oh and he also cut two teeth! Sometimes he accidentally finds himself sitting if he can't quite pull himself up to a full standing position. So today, after I put him down for his afternoon nap I peeked into the room to find him quietly sitting in his crib holding his duck head/blanky. Then I noticed the poor little guy was swaying a little and every so often his head would bob - He had fallen asleep sitting up! He has figured out how to sit but he hasn't figured out how to lay down again, maybe this is what he will learn next week. Here is a short clip of him head bobbing and one of him after I woke him with my laughter! (don't be fooled here - he is ASLEEP!)

Scissors

What happens when your three year old sneaks away to a quiet spot for a short amount of time? Give up? Here is your answer:

Let's just say those tags on her pajamas that were "itching" her are no longer a problem. Oh, and while she was at it she thought she would be nice and relieve Kami from any "itchy" tags on her pj's too! Such a thoughtful little girl!

Re-Purposing Purpose

A few months ago I sorted through my closet and cleared out a bunch of clothes I didn't wear/want anymore. I have to admit there were a few items that I knew I wouldn't wear but they were still in great condition making it difficult to toss them into the Goodwill pile. Well, just before dropping off a few bags of clothing and other "stuff" to Goodwill I decided to pull out two skirts that still had a lot of life left in them. I seemed like such a shame getting rid of them and I kept thinking there must be something I could do to salvage them. So there they sat on the floor of my closet waiting for me to come up with some great ideas. Ultimately the great idea I chose to try was to re purpose my old skirts into "new" skirts for my girls ! After several weeks the finished skirts were ready for the girls to wear! Here are a few pics of the skirts - Rian's is the jean skirt/white lace trim and Kami's is the cream color corduroy with flowers:

I saw a similar idea for the flowers on Kami's skirt posted on the website www.oneprettything.com and wanted to try it. All I did was cut out several circles in various shapes from the fabric and then zigzag stitched all around it. I want the material to fray a little to soften the look of the flowers however I do not want to end up with a big knotted mess after a few washes. I did the same for the leaves. Then I stacked a few of the circles on top of one another and stitched a bunch of zigzag stitches in the center. I set the sewing machine stitches to the lowest stitch length my machine has so that it created a flower center. Then I placed the flowers and leaves on the skirt, pinned them in place and stitched around the largest circles of the flower about 1/2 inch in from the outside of the flower petal perimeter. Again I'm hoping for some fraying and wrinkling after several washes which is why I didn't sew the flower onto the skirt right along the largest petals perimeter. Make sense? I took the same approach with the leaves. Overall I was very pleased with how both skirts turned out and have started seeing my old, never to be worn by me clothes, in a whole new light. (watch out Gary your side of the closet is next!!!)

Winter in Michigan

As most of you know the entire USA is experiencing a chilly blast of cold air, Michigan included! We decided to enjoy one of these cold days and head to the sledding hills. Even little Drew had a chance to sled down two of the hills with his daddy (if you look closely you can see Gary holding Drew as they whiz past the girls on the sled). It was the perfect day for sledding since the sun was out the wind was not blowing (hence no sub zero wind chill!) and fresh snow had fallen to give the hills some new natural grooming. Here are some pics of our little outing. Oh by the way we are sledding on the hills at the Walker Charter Academy School (also where we go to church on Sunday!).

Nap Time

This is what a semi-tired 3 year old does when she is supposed to be taking a nap!

I peeked in on Rian to see if she was sleeping and this is what I found......her stuffed animals were all wearing UNDERWEAR and her grey kitty cat was in a top and skirt! I couldn't help but laugh until tears were pouring out of my eyes at which point Rian said "mom don't cry they didn't have any "accidents" in my bed!".....this sent me into an even harder fit of laughter!! I love this little creative girl!

Christmas Cookies & Friends

The other night we spent a fun evening with the Knoll family! Our kids really enjoy playing with their three wonderful kids (Kelan, McKenzie & Gillian). After gobbling up pizza and bread sticks we got out the gingerbread and sugar cookies so they could all decorate cookies together. Here are some pics of the festivities!

Mrs. B

Congrats to Mike & Mari who were married on November 21 in St. Louis. The wedding was amazing! I was asked to give a little speech just before dinner and I thought I would share it with all of you.

(Irish Wedding Blessing)
May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.

May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.

May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

May your hands be forever clasped in friendship and your hearts joined forever in love.
Your lives are very special,God has touched you in many ways.

May his blessings rest upon you and fill all your coming days.

Dear God, thank you so much for bringing Mike and Mari together as a couple. We know that you have a plan and a purpose for their marriage, and we invite you to come into their lives and relationship and direct their steps from now on. Please give them the grace to put you and each other first every day. Make their relationship a blessing to others. But most of all; make it a blessing to you. Amen."

Kami"ism"

The girls think the word "butt" is hilarious so the other day when a commercial on TV about the new Sketchers brand tennis shoes came on and advertised how these shoes can make your butt better they erupted in laughter. After quieting down they asked how tennis shoes make your butt better (oh yeah a learning opportunity!). I explained that the muscles in your butt called "gluteus maximus" get a workout by wearing the shoes because of their design.......before I could finish the little educational and scientific lecture Kami says to Rian "hey Rian did you know that means you have glu in your butt" and the laughter once again erupted!! Silly little girls!