Handmade Christmas

I really wish I was crafty. I tried to be crafty over the past year or so, but I ran out of steam when I got pregnant. Now I am starting to get my crafty back on. My plan was to begin making some things for friends and family for Christmas this summer. That way I would have plenty of time to finish. Well, since I was so tired all of the time it didn't work out that way. Needless to say, since it is November 18, I don't think my plan is going to work out completely. I still have some ideas in my head. I even have a supply list printed out! I have grand plans for AK and I to work on some things this weekend. I just hope I have the motivation. Anyway, I wanted to share some of my favorite crafty websites that have many great ideas. Maybe you will have the motivation to try some.

One Pretty Thing - I love looking at the pictures on this site. If only I could sew :)

The Crafty Crow - Very cute things for grown-up and kids!

One Hour Craft - I really love the birdie advent calendar.

Modge Podge Rocks - Fun stuff here.

Then there are always links to other great site within these sites. It's overwhelming at times, but I enjoy browsing. I hope you do too!

Lake Winnie

Last month we took a trip to visit John's parents. His sisters were in town, and we all went to Lake Winnepesaukah. I had never been, but it was a great place for kids! Anna Kate really broke out of her amusement park shell. She rode just about every ride in the park that she was tall enough for. The one that certainly surprised me the most was the OH-Zone. It's a 14-story free fall ride. OH-NO-WHAT-HAVE-I-DONE was more like how I felt! Once she got to the top, I got very nervous. She liked it but only wanted to go once :) I couldn't ride much since I am pregnant, so her daddy and aunts got to ride with her. Here are pictures!

I took a picture of her on the OH-ZONE, but it was nighttime, and it did not turn out :( Her favorite was the green frog looking ride (last picture). Just look at her face! We want to take another trip up there before Halloween so we can see all of the decorations. We're beginning to run out of time!

Summer Activities

I have tried to keep AK busy this summer. We've been visiting the water park a lot. She had theater camp for two weeks, and starts art camp and VBS next week. However, there are days where we have little to do, so I try to get creative. We decided to make slime the other day. It's a mixture of borax, glue, and water. Add a little food coloring to spice it up!

Motivation

I haven't had much motivation to post anything lately. I've been feeling very tired instead. So I thought I would just post a few pictures from our 4th of July weekend with our family. We had a very fun time!

Follow Me Friday - Let's Try This Again

Ok, so Follow Me Friday didn't work out so well for me last time. However, I am all for trying it again. Come on all you followers...I'm waiting for you! Head over to On the Verge to play along!


Welcome to Follow Me Friday! This is a great way to find new blogs and make new
friends and get new followers.

Please make a post and spread the word!

Head to On the Verge and do the following:
Grab the badge and put it in your post.

Sign in to Mr. Linky

Follow away!!

Make sure to leave comments to your new friends and let them know where you
found them from! Make sure to come back every Friday for a new list!

Lake View

We went to visit my aunt and uncle at their house for Memorial Day weekend. There was lots of fun, food, swimming, sunshine, and family time :)

School's out for Summer!

Well, summer vacation is finally here, and AK couldn't be happier. She had started to cry about school the last couple of weeks because apparently 5 year old girls are as mean to each other as teenage girls are. There was all sorts of bickering and uninviting to birthday parties between AK and her little circle of girlfriends. Why is it so hard for a group of girls to be friends? I remember the same sorts of problems in high school. I had 2 close girlfriends, and it seemed like each week one of us would be excluded from the group, and it was really hard when it was your week.

Anyway...this is not what I was going to blog about, but if you can shed any wisdom on the above topic fell free to COMMENT! :)

To celebrate the last day of school, AK's Mimi planned a camp out in our front yard. Mimi has been AK's babysitter/2nd mother since AK was 3 months old. She is a big part of our family. AK and Mimi had all sorts of fun games and activities planned. Including ghost stories and pranks to be played on N, the only boy attending.

Well, the weather wasn't too cooperative because at 2:00 on the afternoon of the camp out, the bottom dropped out of the sky. The camp out was not canceled, but the camping out part was. So now the festivities were moved to inside my house. Joy. Also, N decided not to attend, so the pranks had to be put on hold.

The festivities started around 4:30, and 5 meltdowns (by MY child only) and tons of fun later they all collapsed and fell asleep. I think it was actually around 10:00, which I found amazing! They all slept through the night, and no parents had to be called in the middle of the night to get their homesick child. AK had the time of her life, and is already planning a 2nd camp out, with hopes of actually camping out, for the end of the summer!

Here are some Kodak moments...

Fun in the sprinkler!


Dinner time


Dirt cups: vanilla ice cream, crushed oreos, and gummy worms


Water balloon toss!


Make-up fun


Rocker chicks!


Meltdown #3



Morning pinata fun! Thankfully, there is no picture of me in my pajamas hacking the poor donkey/unicorn to bits with a shovel.

The Weekend in Pictures - with words today!

I took a lot of pictures this weekend. I thought it might be necessary to explain some of them :)

A little bit of knitting in the sunshine.


A look of sheer concentration.


Chocolate chip cookies from our neighbor.


AK's yard concoction.


Silliness in the sun.


A singing Easter Bunny...thanks Momo :)


Sunday morning word puzzles.


My ever present, always adoring, Kramer.
He just stares at me with intense love in his eyes...always.
Or maybe he's just waiting for his canned cat food treat.


Then the rain came.

So this is what's cooking. Taco soup and brownies. Yum!