Wednesday, September 5, 2012

1st day of 4 year old preschool

Today was Alyssa's first day of 4-year-old preschool.  Yesterday she kept saying that she was so excited for school and that she couldn't wait for school!  That's what we like to hear!!   ;-)   Before we left for school today, she posed for some pictures in front of the house.  Malachi had to make sure he was in the pictures also!






Once we got to school, I had to take a picture of her once she hung up her back pack.  


You can find some pictures from last years first day of Preschool here.  Last year she only had nine kids in her class and she was one of three girls.  This year she has 18 kids in her class and it was much more hectic than last year.  Many of the new kids in her class have never been in Preschool before so there were a lot of parents hanging around the classroom and lots of crying children.  Since Alyssa went to Preschool last year she was a pro.  Malachi and I gave her a hug and kiss and waved goodbye.  She found something to do at the tables right away.  Alyssa did so well and I was very proud of her!


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Heritage Park and Splash pad

Last Wed., my hubby, kids and I met up with my sis-in-law Kelly.  Kelly lives an hour away from us so we try to find a meeting place that is half way for both of us.  I wanted to find somewhere outside that would also provide fun for the kids, and came up with Heritage Park in Farmington, MI.  This park had lots of walking paths, a nature center, a playground and slash pad.  It sounded like lots of fun (plus it was free!).  I suggested it to Kelly and she thought it would be a great place!


This was off a walking trail behind the nature center

Wigwam
Playing the large xylophone 



Inside the nature center



Kayaking with Aunt Kelly
Splash Pad

Alyssa started taking pictures 

Me and Aunt Kelly

Uncle David
Leonard making weird faces
My handsome baby boy

Overall we had a great time!  This is definitely a place that will be on our list for future visits.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Flexi clip giveaway!

I know I haven't blogged in a little while but I wanted to let everyone know about a giveaway that one of my friend's is doing on her blog, Living and Learning at Home.  The giveaway is for a Flexi clip and these clips are all so pretty!  I have seen them before but didn't know much about them until she did a review.  I hope that I win!  But if not, I might end up buying one cause they look so cool.  Definitely not your standard ponytail holder.

Friday, August 17, 2012

at the county fair.....

This past Monday, I took the kids to our county fair.  The fair is at the north end of the county and we are at the south end, so it took us about 45 minutes to get there.  We met up with my sister, since she also loves the fair.  I used to know so many people when I would go to the fair but since I have been out of 4-H for *Ten* years, I don't know as many people.  We still had lots of fun and the kids loved all the animals.


Petting a cow with Aunt Jessica

More Cows!

Goats!

In one of the tents, there was an educational exhibit for young children that was put on by the local metropark.  My kids loved this exhibit and I think it was their favorite part of the fair.  This exhibit allowed the kids to collect eggs, pick apples, pull up carrots and milk a "cow".

Collecting eggs


















Good times are always had at the county fair!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Princess Birthday Party

A few weekends ago (July 8th to be exact) we went to a princess birthday party for one of our good friends.  When we first got there, the kids played a few games, ate and then it was princess time.  Princess Snow White showed up (the same girl that was Cinderella in this post) to entertain the young princesses and pirates.




Balloons!

Pirate belt and sword

Poison Apple!

Storytime

Dancing with the kids

Face painting

The expression says it all!

My little pirate man

Princess and a pirate




Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Pinterest Country Shower!

For my sister's shower, I decided to search on Pinterest to get ideas for the decorations.  I found lots of great ideas, but modified most of them to make them work for the country theme and the colors.


Welcome chalk board
The inspiration
My version

For my version of the pinwheel chalkboard, the materials I used were:
 - Scrapbooking paper (three different designs)
 - a large chalkboard from Joann's
 - piece of white grosgrain ribbon
 - pictures 
 - masking tape

I made the pinwheels using this tutorial here, but found I needed more paper than the directions called for when making the larger pinwheels.  For my board, I used fewer pinwheels and made them smaller than the ones in my inspiration.  I felt like the larger pinwheels took away from the pictures.  To make the banner across the upper left corner, I used a piece of white grosgrain ribbon and cut out small triangles from the scrapbooking paper.  I taped everything onto the chalk board using masking tape.



Mason Jars & Burlap
The inspiration

My version

For my version of the burlap and lace mason jars, the materials I used were:
 - large mason jars (I think they were a quart)
 - lace
 - pink shear ribbon
 - burlap (my sister got ours at her work but I have seen it at Joann's for about $2/yard)
 - hot glue gun and glue sticks

I pretty much followed their directions with this one.  The main thing that was different was that I used larger jars then they did so I needed more materials.  I also hot glued the burlap in a few different places while wrapping it around the jar so it would stay better, instead of just at the seams.  



chalk board labels
The inspiration

My version

For my version of the mini chalkboards, the materials I used were:
 -acrylic paint ("Cranberry")
 -paintbrush
 -wooden plaque
 -wooden dowels
 -hot glue gun and glue sticks
 -spray paint chalkboard paint

I followed the directions for this one also but I painted it "cranberry" around the edges (2 coats) instead of leaving it plain.  For the chalkboard part, I just followed the directions on the spray paint chalkboard paint can.  The size wooden plaques that I used were 5 inches by 7 inches.  



crepe paper balls
The inspiration

My version

The pom poms that I made were the lighter colored ones in the middle of the mantel.  For my version of the tissue paper pom poms, the materials I used were:
 -tissue paper
 -flower wire
 -scissors

There are many different versions of these floating around the internet.  The directions that I used were for the small pom poms.  My pom poms turned out huge so I can only imagine what the larger versions looked like!


The last thing that I made was the cute cow cake!  It was such a hit and it turned out great!


The inspiration

My version

For my version of the cow cake, the materials I used were:
-homemade butter cream icing
-tube of black icing
-can of brown icing
-icing star tip
-one box of cake mix + ingredients 
-piece of paper and pencil
-pink food coloring
-2  9 in. round cake pans

My cake was very similar to the directions.  For the face of the cow, I traced the pan and then drew the face how I wanted it on the paper so I had a template to use when cutting the actual cake.  I knew that I would mess the cake up if I didn't.  I omitted the chocolate chips and just used black icing.  I also dyed some white butter cream frosting to make the snout pink.  


It was a lot of fun to make everything but also a lot of work!  To view more pictures of the shower, check out this post.