handmade love

The boys made these amazing hearts at their weekly woodworking class. They were so excited to give them to me as I was to receive them. They cut the shape with a saw, then sanded and waxed them to give them the beautiful finish.

Then they spent the day making planters with Eric.  Eric was so resourceful and used some leftover wood we had from our back steps he built last summer. 

I am one very lucky lady to have such hardworking boys and husband.

Sunday Smiles

sponge bombs

One of my favorite magazines is Family Fun. Each issue is filled with great ideas and projects. I have made a scrapbook of all the projects I think the boys and I would like.  This way they are easily accessible. Like just this afternoon when Landon told me how hot he was and could we please get wet. A quick trip to the store for sponges. Home again and they were made in about 10 minutes. The boys were outside in a flash, soaking one another and cooling off.  Totally fun!

Breakfast anyone?

The boys so love yogurt parfaits. So I made our own this week. 

We toasted some oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.  Added a bit of honey to make it sweet.  Then layered it with plain yogurt and strawberries mixed with a spoonful of OJ. The plain yogurt was a big to do. There were groans of how it wouldn't taste good.  But two glasses later there were no more doubts.

I usually put all my focus into dinner recipes, but this week have started making a better variety of breakfasts.  Blueberry/banana smoothies. 

Fruit smoothie with kale. A recipe from Amanda's book.

This tasted better than it looks. Even with the bits of kale. William drank 3 glasses. 

Trying new things. All of us.  It's  all good.

mazes

We are loving our "art in the afternoon" time. The calm before the storm. When we then spend the rest of the afternoon outside, running and playing. 

Today we made mazes with small index cards.  The boys loved designing their own and then having everyone figure them out.

index card butterflies

We spent some time this afternoon making butterflies.  Very quick and easy to make. Designing them ourselves was the fun part. We would "borrow" one another designs as Landon liked to say.

It was  good practice in folding as it had to be just so to make them come out even.

So here is what we did:
Took an 3 x 5 index card and folded the short end to meet the long end. Then  there is a rectangle left. We folded that over . After all the folds have been done, unfold the card and cut on the folds. You will have 2 triangles and one rectangle. You don't need the rectangle. Save for something else. Then fold the two small triangles again and you will have little butterflies.  We decorated them as we chose. Then glued them onto some pretty background paper, just along the fold so that they look like they are flying.

This is not my idea. I adapted it from the book 50 Make It, Take It Projects

There are some pretty neat ideas for sculpture in this book that we may try.

one part

I am being more mindful of how and when I blog. This includes reading other people's blogs. I have tried many different times during the day. First thing in the morning, after lunch, after everyone is in bed. What seems to work right now is after a full day of activity we all take a bit of down time right before dinner prep begins.  I blog and the boys either quietly play, read or watch a show.  What I have come to realize is my blog is just one small part of me. It is for me to share with distant family and friends what we are up to. It is a record of moments I might not officially scrapbook. A more colorful journal of sorts. It has introduced me to new friends and I love that.  But too many times I have found myself checking to see if anyone wrote anything new on their blogs or if I got any comments.  Sometimes I feel like I was letting it take over my life.  So I have made a conscious effort to make it just one part of my day.  I do come across many ideas during my day and I keep a notepad close by to jot down my thoughts, which makes writing posts easier.

This simple conclusion has made me feel lighter and breath easier. I just keep repeating to myself that it is "just one part" and that has made all the difference.