Where Did The Year Go?

Yesterday, I went to Nathan's kindergarten program.  They sang and recited nursery rhymes.  It was so cute....I LOVED it.   Children that age are so adorable when they stand up on stage.  The kids were waving, the parents and grandparents were waving.  It was so awesome.  I think I had a smile on my face the entire time.  All the kids did a wonderful job...and I was super proud of Nathan.

He really loves school. Sure, there are days when he gets up in the morning and doesn't want to go. He'll look up at me with those big, brown eyes of his and say "Let's just have a Mommy/Nathan day." And part of me, really wants to agree.   But, the parent in me has to send him to school.  He is doing so well...he has learned to read and made tons of friends, loves his teachers, gained some independance and has really blossomed into such a wonderful boy. 

(Nathan with his music teacher Mrs. Drury)

It seems funny now, thinking back - actually looking back.  He was so excited that first day of school and yet so hesitant as well.  He wanted mommy to stay with him and even though he wanted to cry really bad, he didn't. 

(this picture still breaks my heart - first day of school, when he realized that mommy wasn't staying)

Oh, those bittersweet moments and milestones.....they really suck - don't they?

And now, we have one kid graduating, GRADUATING!!! - How in the heck did that happen? Where did all those years go? And please....whatever you do, DON'T tell me that one day while I'm busy blinking that Nathan will graduate too.

I think I'm Overdue for a Rant...

I'm tired. 

I'm tired of all the water problems we've been having.  About a month ago, we received a notice that our water was contaminated, we had to boil it for drinking, cooking, etc.  It was a huge pain in the butt, especially when you have a large family.  Imagine having to boil water to wash dishes for eight people at least twice a day....Not fun!

That problem has since been resolved, but in the meantime, our hot water tank died.....so it's back to boiling water again.  Not because of contamination, but because we still need hot water for washing dishes and bathing.  Another pain in the butt.  Today, I'm waiting for the water heater guy to come and install a new one.  I haven't even gotten a phone call yet (it's 1 p.m. by the way) to let me know when they are coming.  I'm tired of waiting.....

I'm tired of not having a kitchen table or chairs....they were taken apart and were being painted.  Then there was an emergency or family problem with the person who was painting them....I'm NOT upset by that...that's understandable.  I'm just tired of the kids taking their dinner plates all over the house, because they are looking for a place to sit and eat and then NOT bringing their plates and stuff back to the kitchen when they are done.  I'm tired of finding crusty plates of crap and cups of spoiled milk all over the house.  It would be different if they would simply bring their plates, bowls, utensils, cups, etc. back to the kitchen and put them in the sink.  That stuff is easily contained when they eat at the table....By the way, I'm also tired of walking around a bunch of table parts in the kitchen and chairs in my bedroom.  The chaos is making me insane!

I'm tired of my kids fighting  All.The.Time....it never ends.  And it's always the same ones fighting too.  They fight over clothes...they fight over who sits where...they fight over games....they fight over tvs (which we have four of by the way)....they fight over who plays on what computer or what wii or what controller or whatever....And it's not even summer yet! I think it's "the end of the year, school's almost over, sick of the rain" kind of thing. 

I'm tired of the little boys running around in said rain...they run outside and splash through the puddles, come inside change their clothes and run back out again.  I find puddles of dirty, wet clothes everywhere.  And having to wash all those clothes is making me just as crazy.  Just when I think I'm almost caught up...someone decides it would be a great idea to clean their room and instead of sorting through all the clothes on the floor, they just swoop them all up and toss the whole lot of them in the laundry room.  It's like trying to climb a mountain and sliding back down to the bottom and having to climb it all over again...it never ends....Ever!

I think I'm just tired...of being tired.  Of running myself ragged doing everything and no one ever thanking me.  I mean sure they thank me for the little things, like making dinner and stuff like that....and I realize that being a mom is sort of a "thankless job" but sometimes it makes me feel invisible or something.  Not sure how to explain it, but I think any woman in the world can relate to what I'm saying, at least at some point in their lives.  It's not like I need acknowledgement all the time, but going unnoticed all the time, isn't fun either.  That's life I guess.....time to pull those big girl panties up and deal with it, eh? Maybe I just need a little day to myself...I never do that.  Maybe if I did, I wouldn't be wound up and frustrated so much.  Who knows.

Ok, pity party rant over now....back to reality

Padded Fabric Bulletin Board

I made this padded fabric bulletin board today.  It came out okay and looks fine all covered up with papers, but I messed it up a bit when I made it.  And it was such a huge pain in the butt, that I'm not sure if I'll make another one.

Here's how I did it....I took a sheet of hard foam board from the dollar store (you can find it by the poster board).  Then, I used spray adhesive to attach some quilt batting to the board.  Next, I took some fabric squares that were leftover from another project and sewed them all together.  I couldn't figure out how to get the fabric to stay on the board, nothing that I tried worked...so, I ended up pining the corners and taping them with clear packing tape (the only tape I could find) LOL.  I thought I could make it stronger by sewing the fabric to the board (I used the zipper foot on my sewing machine and it worked). 

I added some ribbon in a criss cross pattern by taping the ends to the back of the board as well.  That's where I messed it all up, the lines weren't even, but I didn't notice until Sarah pointed it out.

 I hand sewed some buttons where the lines criss crossed and attached a ribbon to the back to hang it on the wall.  Needless, to say the back of it is a hot mess....and the lines were uneven, but other than that, it came out kind of cute.   But, it looks better when covered with papers (so you can't see all the imperfections haha).

I may try to make another one some day when the urge strikes and hopefully I can perfect it a bit.  Like I said, it's cute, especially when it's covered with papers.....

Linking to Tatertots and Jello

Pillow Love

Rich told me he thought we had enough pillows on our couches for now....that I should "put the thread down and back away from my sewing machine"  He was joking, of course - at least I think he was.

This is coming from the man who keeps buying pillows for our bed.   He likes to make himself a "pillow fort" every night.  He piles pillows all around his body on the bed.  Seriously, we have like ten king sized pillows and 4 standard size pillows on our king size bed.  It's crazy...so he better not be serious about me sewing too many pillows LOL!  Amanda even bought some fabric so I could make some pillows for her bed.

Here's what I've been busy working on......

Fun, Fun, Fun.....I love my sewing machine!

Linking to:

It's A Bug's Life

We've been reading alot of Winnie the Pooh books lately, because Nathan loves them and I got a really great deal on 2 almost full sets of books at a yard sale.  We recently read the book The Big Bug Hunt (Winnie the Pooh #14 in the It's Fun to Learn series). 

In the book, Christopher Robin has a long list of bugs that he needs to find and so all his friends volunteer to help him bug hunt.  They don special headbands to help disguise themselves from the bugs and grab all their special bug hunting equipment and set off on their big buggy adventure.

I decided that even though I absolutely hate bugs, that the boys would love a big buggy adventure of their own.

We made our own bug antennae headbands, some fun snacks, painted a bug picture and went on an official bug hunt.

To begin with, we started by making some "Dirt" cups.

You will need one box of instant chocolate pudding, 2 cups of milk, a 16 oz package of Oreos, one container of Cool Whip, clear plastic cups and of course, the most important ingredient....some gummy worms.

Mix the pudding and milk according to the package directions.  Set aside for 5 mins. 

 Take the whole package of Oreos (minus a few that were snuck out and eaten), throw them in a ziploc bag and smash them. 

Add the Cool Whip to the pudding and mix.

Next, take a spoonful or two of the smashed Oreos and put it in the bottom of the cup.  Add a spoonful or two of the pudding/Cool Whip mix....some more Oreos and more pudding.  Garnish with another spoonful of Oreos and a few gummy worms.

(Hmmm, looks like somebody did more than just sneak a few Oreos.....)

Nathan's first bug hunt wasn't very successful, so we decided we needed to fool the bugs into thinking Nathan was a bug too.  So, we made our own bug antennae headbands.

I bought some headbands, some styrofoam balls and some pipe cleaners at the dollar store for this craft.

We attached the pipe cleaners to the headbands

Stuck some styrofoam balls to the pipe cleaners.  Brushed some handy dandy Mod Podge all over the balls.  And then rolled them (or in Nathan's case, dumped) glitter all over the balls.

(Oh, you know if it involved pink and glitter, I was all.over.this.one!)

(Think he'll fool any bugs???)

Now, he's really ready for another bug hunt!

This time, Nathan and Sarah went bug hunting and found some ants AND a spider....Nathan said they were totally fooled by him, cause he looked just like a bug too! {{Insert some really cute little boy giggles here}}

While they were outside "hunting", I made another snack....Ants on a Log.

But not just any ants on a log (most of my kids don't like raisins and some of them don't like celery)....Oh no, we used pretzel rods dipped in peanut butter and m&ms as the ants.

(Nom, nom, nom)

We finished up our Big Buggy Adventure by painting pictures of....whatelse ---- BUGS!

(well, actually me and Nicholas painted pics of bugs, Nathan said his were scientists (??))

(me and Nick's painting)

(Nathan's painting)

Bug hunting must be hard work.....Nathan fell asleep shortly after dinner, while holding a spoon and "dirt" cup in his hands :)  LOL!

Linking to.....

Handprint Flower Bouquet (Perfect Mother's Day Craft)

This is a fun and cute little project for kids.  It would be perfect for Mother's Day (hint to those dad's out there!!).  All you need is some flower colored construction paper, a pencil, some craft sticks (we painted our's green), glue, scissors and a stapler.

Trace your child's hand print on the paper and cut it out

Curl the ends of the finger tips around a pencil

Glue the craft stick to the hand print

Take the sides and shape them around the stick and staple it together

Nathan and I took a vase and put some tissue paper in the bottom of it. Then arranged the "flowers" in the vase.

I think I like these flowers even more than I like my real ones!

And Nathan is pretty darn proud of himself, as you can see!

Look What I Can Do . . . .

I made this pretty apron. 

And I did it without a pattern. 

I just made it up as I went along. 

Took 2 days, because, well, I'm still learning and I have 6 kids who kept vying for my attention - Look at this Ma....Read to me Mommy....I need this school form signed....I have ball practice in five minutes....I need you to drive me to work.....Can I borrow the car......Help me with my homework....What's for dinner....

Not to mention all the other day to day nonsense that goes on around here - you know, things like cooking, cleaning and laundry....those dang fairies never did show up, so I had to all that too!

Just imagine your ordinary day x six.

But, it was fun and I want to make another one (do me a favor though, and don't look to closely at the seams haha, I am a beginner, after all).

Linking to....

And WFMW

Boys Will Be Boys, As The Saying Goes

He quite literally was hanging by the seat of his pants!

The other day, I came home from work to find a pair of Nicholas's pants laying on the kitchen table.  I asked why they were there and was told that he ripped his pants.  Nicholas wanted to know if I could sew them...ever since I got my sewing machine all kinds of things have been popping up on my desk all ripped and in need of mending. 

I thought it was a little tear, until I took another look.  The entire seat of his pants is ripped.  When I asked what he did, he simply said "I was climbing a tree and fell out."  Then Sarah tells me that he didn't "just fall out", he was hanging by the seat of his pants while they slowly ripped and released him to the ground.  LOL! Could you imagine what that must have looked like?? Or what the boy was thinking while it was happening??

Apparently, he also broke the hook that his bird house was hanging on too, because he was using it as a step to climb higher up in the tree.  The same hook that we just hung up a few weeks prior and he was told at the time it was hung, to not use it as a step in the tree.

The other day, after a rough, few hours of non stop fighting between Nicholas and Nathan, I finally had enough and made Nick go to their bedroom and Nathan sit on the couch.  Nick kept trying to sneak out.  He was worried about not having his stuff ready for his baseball pictures that we were supposed to go to that evening.  I kept telling him not to worry about it, because if he would just stay in his room for 30 minutes or so, he'd be done....but he wouldn't listen.

As I was sitting at the desk in the kitchen (which has a view of the front entry and the hallway), I saw Nicholas try to sneak past me with a blanket thrown over his head.  I thought it was strange and couldn't figure out how he snuck past me in the first place (as he was going back to his room and not trying to sneak out of his room) - Are you following me here?

Then in the car on the way to the ball field where he was getting his pics taken, I noticed dirt on his pants.  When I asked him how he got them dirty, he replied that he didn't know.

A day or two later, he decided to confess and tell me that his pants got dirty because he snuck out the window and went in through the garage to get his shoes....then threw a blanket over his head and tried to sneak back to his room, because he couldn't get back through the window.   He said he landed on his knee when he jumped and that's how his pants got dirty.  He's lucky he didn't break an arm or leg when he jumped out of the window

I'm thinking this is going to make for one heck of a long summer, if he keeps doing little escapades like these!