Project 365- Day 40

My son had to do a project for his Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth class. He needed to build a tower that would support a ping pong ball out of spaghetti and gumdrops. It was awesome!!

Paper Mache- Part one

The holiday break is way to long. My kids get bored which leads to them bouncing and jumping and chattering all day long. Usually the weather is not nice enough for them to escape outside. Yesterday was one of those days and it resulted in a day long marathon of Kim Possible. Now I love the girl crime fighter as much as the next person, but dang, that was too much. I decided to do something with them today. I set to google-ing “how to paper mache” and the directions seemed pretty simple. One part flour, 2 parts water, newspaper and balloons. Surprisingly I had all that stuff.

Both kids were excited to be doing something. G has done this before at school, but Lex was new to the process. She was all for it, right up until G told her that she would get messy.

I discovered that G is a whiz at ripping up the paper. Every piece was uniform. I could not believe it, and was a bit jealous, because I did not get one straight piece. NOT ONE!

Even Lex had better technique than me.

The process is about to get under way. With the first dip of paper into the glue mixture, there is not turning back.

At this point, I got into the goop with the kids. What? They can’t be the only ones having fun! But that means no in process shots. After all, paper mache goop and camera’s don’t mix. When the kids were done, this is what was left over.

Once they are dry, we head in for round two!

August 3

The summer is really keeping us busy. July went by so fast! Hard to believe that the children will be going to school in a few short weeks.

The weather has been playing tricks on us, and so much of our plans have had to have been put off because of it. I wanted to camp a few times this year, but with a rainy June and a colder than normal July we haven’t. June and July are our free months in the summer, try and pack as much into them before the chaos of school and soccer happens in August and September.

I have lots of pictures of thing we have done in July.

My princess

On the 12 of July we went to the annual MCA Elementary wrestling picnic at Locust Lake. The kids had a great time, but the lake smelled really bad. Like dead fish bad. I did not want to get in it at all. Tim says that I a spoiled about what kind of water I swim in, I say if I can not see the bottom, I am not getting in.

Not sure if he wants to go in or not.

I have been debating on going to school for photography. On the walk back to the car the kids stopped at a playarea and Gryffan informed me that he would gladly be my model for school. With looks like his, I think it would be smart to take him up on his offer.

Ahh my love!

A friend of mine asked me to make her a rag doll for an upcoming baby shower for sister. She liked how the doll came out so much that she helped me inlarge the pattern to make a bigger doll out of it. Lex just loves the bigger doll, but she can not decide on her name. Some days it is Love Blossom and some days it is Apple Blossom.

Momma and new dolly

We have been spending nice days outside. This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer. I have a thing for kid feet.

Happy hippie feet

Then we took a day trip down to Hickory Run State Park. We had such a good time! Unfortunately it started to rain around 3 cutting our day short, but it was still a good day. The kids loved playing in the woods by the creeks, Boulder Field just fasinated Gryffan and the water bridge got the thumbs up too. They also liked seeing wherre Tim and I got married.

by a creek

Another of my favorites this summer.

Take my hand, it will be ok

Gryffan in the water bridge. Lexy was afraid of the rushing water and would only go in it with daddy, and she did not stay long enough to snap a picture.

How could you not pinch those cheeks?

Then over to Boulder Field. Gryffan wanted to keep going out farther and farther, but Lexy hung out on the edges with me (I was in flip flops) and said she thought that there would be snacks and spiders out there so she was happy where she was.

Lexy at Boulder Field

Then we went over for lunch at some new picnic area. They really have done a ton of work up there. Either that or we just have not been there in ages. They expanded the beach though, that I know for sure is new. And the bathrooms, now those are nice.

Finding a quiet spot to chill

And then it was off to the beach before the rain came 20 minutes later. lol

helping each other

There has not been too much creative coming out of the kitchen lately. But we did try the Banana Pudding Bars recipe from the July Vegnews and it came out wonderful. The kids and hubby liked it, and it made me weak in the knees. I ended up making it again this weekend for a family bbq. Quick and easy and kid helping friendly.

mixa, mixa, mixa (blues clues)

The biggest news of July had to be that Gryffan lost his very first tooth! It took about 48 hours to go from wiggly to out. He played with it constantly and it came out after he went to bed. Silly boy did not tell me that it came out, instead he put it right under his pillow. About a half hour later, he was very upset because he could not find it, and that was when he told me it came out. I informed him that he HAS to tell me when they come out so that I could call the tooth fairy. lol About a week later the second one came out as well, and now he has a super adorable gap. He went to the dentist last week and the dentist said that his teeth look healthy and strong! He has been taking very good care of them.

it is hard to get a picture of a mouth.

Lexy’s dance class also performed twice last weekend at the picnic in the park. They are all just too cute for words. She did well. I am very proud of her. How could you not be, look at her!

Beautiful

After dancing they went to play in this amazing bubble area. Which was great fun for them till it got in the eyes, and the man supervising sprayed them right in the face with a hose. I think that was his fun for the day. After that they came to me to wipe out their eyes.

Playing in the bubbles

By the end of the month, the summer is starting to lose all the fun aspect to it. Both kids were getting “bored” and starting to drive me up a wall. Think of the Staples commercial with the parents excited for back to school and that was me last week. I decided to open up Gryffan’s balcony and let them play up there. They made it into a fort and we made a little flag for it. (speaking of, I have to remember to take that down soon, ) That seemed to perk them up for a bit, and it was really nice to see them working together again with out any fighting.

The Super LookOut Club

Ahhh I am going to be in trouble someday. Look at those eyes!

Mommy I want a pony, Yes dear what ever you want

This past weekend we went down to Uncle Donnie and Aunt Jane’s down in Hershey, where Gryffan took his place in a long line of Clyde blooded men and rode a dirt bike. Part of me was so nervous I could puke, and the other half of me was proud of him.

My monster

In the gardening front, this year has been horrible for us. Nothing we started from seed survived. We picked up a flat from the aution in Hometown and some of the stuff is really doing well. I have a ton of pickle cucumbers, and lettuce out the wazoo, but no eggplants or peppers. I think we will have a bumper crop of brussle sprouts when the time comes and tomatos will be plentiful, if they ever get red. Tim planted a rose bush earlier in the year and it is just taking off. Here is a picture of the blooms that we got already this year.

kordus perfecta, i think

I am going to be coaching Gryffan in soccer for sure this year. I got the call the other day, and tomorrow I will know for sure if I got Lexy’s team as well. I am a little nervous about that, but excited too.

Well till tomorrow. lol C-

June 4th

BWAHHHHHH! ( best attempt at an evil laugh) The vegan cupcakes were a huge hit. No one knew that they were anything different then plain old cupcakes. So there ( I am sticking out my tounge and blowing raspberries) to everyone who ever said that vegan cooking and baking is gross. Also the “chocolate cupcakes” were in fact not chocolate, they were carob! More evil laughing!!!

In general they day was awesome. The kids had some friends over, and they are the best kids I know, so it was fun. I had picked up some wooded pencil boxes and some acrylic paint, and we did them up. The little girl says to me that she loves coming to our house because I always have something fun for them to do. That makes me feel good, and a little less nuts. I swear other people think I am crazy, but it is cool when kids like me.

After they left the kids took a nice long nap. Someone forgot to tell Gryffan that you sleep in when there is no school. He was up at 5:30! OUCH! I need to get him a clock for in his room. I had made him black out curtains, but the down side is that it is always dark in his room so he has no sense of time. Tomorrow he will have my stop watch and he has very strong instructions NOT to get out of bed before 8. I have been waitting 9 months for this, I want to sleep till 9 gosh darn it.

Lexy had dance today and they learned a new routine. They are going to be dancing at this thing in the park, called picnic in the park. Kind of self explanitory. I got to peak in and watch her dance to FootLoose. She is tons of fun to watch, she can really shake it.

Then Gryffan had a make up game, which at the end of was the end of season party because the coach will not be there on Saturday. The season really went fast. Gryffan played goalie the first quarter, after very explicit instructions not to play goalie from me. But he stopped the ball both times it came near him. So it wasn’t to bad. Second quarter he was up front and he did awesome. People who have watched him play all season would think that I am lying, but he actually ran after the ball! He moved and helped out his team mate, and he took a shot on goal that hit off the posts. It was fun to watch. Third quarter he was out, and fourth quarter, nothing came near him. I think it was a really good season.

Gryffan checking out his trophy from this season

Tim is at his motorcycle saftey class tonight. Hopefully he will pass wonderfully and we will be able to go for a ride. It has been forever since I was on the back of a bike.

 

Running tally-

Gryffan – tv- 45 minutes to watch Mythbusters – 30 minutes of Diji- Finished one book and is half way done with the next        TOTAL 45minutes tv/1 hr diji

Lexy – tv – 45 minutes to watch Mythbusters  TOTAL 3hrs 15minutes

Constance – diet/yes – exercise/no

April 22nd

Oh guess what else i did yesterday, I helped to coach Gryffan’s soccer team. His coach did not show up and the assistant coach was on the phone, so another mom and I took it upon ourselves to coach the kids. It was a lot of fun, but Now has me debating on if I will be able to coach his team too, next season. I definately want to coach Lexy’s, but can I do both of them. lol It isn’t the kids who are overscheduled, it is the parents.

We went down to the Hometown Farmers Market. Tried to get out early in the morning, but ended up not leaving here till almost noon. Crazy thing about this area, we left Atlas and it was beautiful and sunny and no need for a jacket, but when we got there it was chilly. What is it like 20 miles away? Got to love PA. We did not get to much, we were going up there to get underwear for Gryffan and only found one place that had the kind of undie that he wears, and even there they only had one pack.

When we came home, Lex started working on her foam bead necklace. She worked for about an hour. She loved it.

Decemeber 14th

Today we did some crafts to get ready for our Yule/Hanukkah festivities next weekend. We made up some yule logs out of toilet paper rolls and some colored pop sticks. Gryffan had lots of fun, and kept thinking of things he could make out of the combination. If you are on his gift list, watch out, he is getting creative. Lexy was not to pleased with the glue on her fingers. She kept asking to wash off her hands. I always loved glue on my fingers, then when it dries, you can  peel it off and have a glue finger print.

working carefully

 

Other than that, it was pretty much a lazy day. Tim was at work and the kids and I just lounged around. I have to get moving on making cookies for gifts, or in the very least getting the doughs ready. I wonder if they would stay fresh if I vacuum seal the cooked cookies?

Only a few more days till our baby turns 4! Hard to believe that she is growing up so fast. I still remember how much I wanted her, and how my heart ached for another baby. I asked her today about her birthday wishes, she wants pink cupcakes with pink icing and she wants cake for her birthday dinner.

December 10th

This is a super secret post. I normally type in the morning when Gryffan is getting ready for school, but I am posting this at night, on the 10th. Today I crocheted a sweater. I am so proud of my self. Normally I start off with a sweater only to get bored half way through. I can not even remember how many of them I have started and stopped. I only have ever finished one before, but it was a lacy open jacket that worked up quickly. I wanted to make a second one of those, and made it a 1/4 of the way through. So check out my sweater.

The sweater

 

Ok Ok so maybe a sweater for a toy puppy doesn’t count, but it is a sweater and I finished it! There is a story behind all this. Gryffan has this puppy dog, not the one in the picture, but his name is Toby. He is Gryffan’s lovey. He got him from my Aunt Linda after Lexy was born. Toby’s sister is the puppy in the picture. Toby is a Rottie, and he is very loved and extremely well taken care of. In fact I have never seen a lovey in this good of condition. He looks like he is brand new, but he is almost 4 years old. Gryffan has taken him everywhere we have gone to stay over night since he got Toby. He has been camping 3 times and made it to Richmond Va so many times, I have lost count. The other day Gryffan informed me that Tobey gets cold because the only shirt he has is a Thomas short sleeve shirt, would I make him a sweater. Well ask and you shall recieve. Toby will have this under the tree come christmas morning. DONT TELL GRYFFAN! lol Lexy knows all about it, so it should be interesting to see if it stays a secret.