pillows, bubbles, and band-aids

Last year for Mother's Day Jeffrey did some drawings on fabric and it was up to me to decide what to do with them(examples: frame them, turn them into a pillow, or a quilt square, ect). Whe decided we would do pillows and I even took him to the store to pick out fabrics to match the green pieces he drew on. And then it all sat in my to do pile until about a month ago when I finally sat down to make this:

I love how it turned out! I totally guessed on how big to make the squares, ect. I used pieces of a vintage bedspread to make the back- and even did the fold over way so that the cover would be removable for easy washing. I know it's silly and simple but I was really proud of myself! Here's Mickey in the GIANT tub... his wish for that night was a big bubble bath just for him. We were happy to oblige.

Mary Beth's page from the Kindergarten "Band-Aid On My..." book. She wanted me to share it.

Well that's all I have for today!

Happy Birthday Dad/Nonno!

Hope you have a wonderful day! We can't wait to see you soon.

2 for Tea... bears required

Saturday morning Jeffrey and Mary Beth went to a verys special Teddy Bear Tea Party at Rheault Farm. They got to get all dressed up and bring a special bear friend along. They have been looking forward to it for weeks...

When we got there the kids got to pick out some fancy accessories to put on themselves and/or their bear. Mary Beth was already happy with her outfit(notice the gloves!) so she only added a large pink jewel ring but her little bear got several necklaces. Jeffrey picked a cowboy hat for Barnsie and some necklaces that didn't look to feminine(since Barnsie is a boy). He was also luckey enough to get his own chair next to Jeffrey!

They served fruit salad(which my kids ate most of the entire bowl), bagels(which Jeffrey ate like he'd never tasted one before), mini muffins, and a meat/cheese/cracker tray. I hadn't had breakfast and it was all I could do not to shove all of that yummy food into my mouth. But alas, no other mothers took a bite so I guessed it was probably frowned upon. Boo.

The only strange thing about the tea party was that there was no tea- nor any tea cups! I'm sure kids wouldn't want tea anyway but maybe a teacup would be neat since it was a tea party. Just an observation...

While they were eating an etiquette lady talked to them about manners. They must have taken it really seriously because last night at supper they kept reminding eachother of what to do with your napkin at different times of the meal. :)

They made bibs for their bears.

And talked about good manners some more...

And played a quick game of red light green light- not sure how that game had anything to do with tea parties but the kids thought it was fun so that's what matters!

Then at the end they made thank you cards for the person that brought them.

Here is Jeffrey's prize glasses from the game and also apparently ettiquitte doesn't come into play with there is one last double chocolate mini muffin to eat...

The lady was loving Jeffrey's outfit so she gave me her email address to send her some pictures for her to add to her website. He thinks that is the cat's meow.

They had a great time as you can see!

beach day

Mary Beth's kindergarten class filled their good behavior marble jar so they were rewarded with a "beach day"! They got to wear and bring beachy stuff and they danced to Beach Boys music, layed on beach towels, and played with sand. She was so excited to go through her summer clothes bin and pick out a beachy outfit. She wore pants over her shorts to get to and from school (since it's still apparently the dead of winter here in the frozen tundra) but then when she got to school John said she wouldn't take them off! He said that lots of the kids had sweatshirts and pants on because they were so cold! :( Poor beach day. I had been saving some cute new flip flops for her and decided to give them to her this morning since last years looked prett-y bad. She was thrilled! I love it when they get to do special days in kindergarten- it reminds me of the good old days of pre-school... sigh...

a conversation with Jeffrey

My favorite food is: garlic butter noodles

My favorite sport to play is: Soccer

The best show on TV is: Planet Earth

The coolest person on earth is: Daddy

My best subject in school: Science

The thing I do the most awesomely is: being quiet

If I could change my name it would be: Jack

If I could go anywhere in the world, I'd go to: Canada

My favorite color is: red & orange

When I grow up I'm going to: study polar bears

The thing my parents are too strict about is: cleaning up

My current favorite band is: Bruno Mars

The book I am reading now is: Ramona and Her Mother

Four words that best describe me are: awesome. quiet. playful. kind.

When I was little I used to: sleep a lot

My favorite season of the year is: Fall

The snack I could live on is: z bars

The food that makes me want to barf is: raw carrots

My best friend is: Mickey, Mary Beth, and Shia

If I had one wish it would be: to have a pet polar bear

My best memory is: going miniature golfing

a tale of two dresses...

On April 15th John will be taking his little princess to The Butterfly Ball- a fancy father/daughter dance. I picked up a couple of dresses yesterday that I thought she would like thinking she could choose between them. The one we pick will also double as her Easter dress I'm thinking. Well, the problem is she loves both and so do I. We wondered then if we should show you guys some pictures of them and see what your votes are! Let us know which one you like the best- maybe it will help us make a decision...

I think this one is perfect because there are butterflies all over it. Get it? Butterfly Ball...
Plus she loves butterflies and purple. Her favorite part is how "twirl-y" it is. :)

See. Twirl-y.

Now, this pink one is a bit more fancy and it's the one she picked right away(before she tried them on). She loves that it's pink(of course) and the flower. It also has tulle under it.

It also twirls great but not as much as the butterfly one.

We love the bow too.

Here's what I don't like about this one: the neckline. It seems a tad low for a little girl dress. Or maybe it just lays funny. Or maybe it just seems to be low because she's so tiny? I could always put something there in the V part- to bring up the neck line I guess...

So, what do you think? The pink or the purple?

PS: this little babe is going to be 6 in a couple weeks!!!! :(

treasure every moment

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments.

She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

doin' experiments

Saturday morning we headed to the library so the boys could participate in "Colors of Chemistry"- put on by a teacher and students from Concordia College.

The boys got to be partners- it was so cute: as soon as they were told they'd be working in pairs they grabbed eachother tight(like a hug) and then held hands until they got to their table(right up front)- I think they were nervous they would be separated! :)

They did a bunch of messy experiments and had tons of fun.

The instructor had an accent so Mickey really liked that!

The library has been offering a lot of really cool free activities for kids lately and we've been signing up for a lot of them- it's been so much fun!

leprechaun shenanigans

the kids and their friends Norah and Emma(we watch them after school) got home today to discover that a sneaky little leprechaun had caused some problems in our house...
He had dumped out our tray of legos all over the place and built a 3 leaf clover.

He apparently had green paint on his shoes because he left footprints everywhere and then used some to leave us a greeting on the coffee table.

The prints led to the bathroom where we found he had turned water in the toilet green.

He also left the kids some Chuck E. Cheese "gold" at the end of Mary Beth's rainbow

and best of all he made them all so excited!

Look at these cuties.

I love special days...

After we were done exploring the kids colored some St. Patrick's Day pictures I had printed off.

Why isn't there a day like this for Italians????

A Conversation with Mary Beth

My favorite food is: Greek Pasta
My favorite sport to play is: basketball
The best show on TV is: Olivia
The coolest person on earth is: Mommy & Daddy
My best subject in school: Art
The thing I do the most awesomely is: play with my friends
If I could change my name it would be: nothing
If I could go anywhere in the world, I'd go to: Nonna & Nonno's House
My favorite color is: pink & purple
When I grow up I'm going to become a: ballerina
The thing my parents are too strict about is: eating sweets
My current favorite band is: the Chipettes
The book I am reading now is: Dick and Jane #2
Three words that best describe me are: Happy. Friendly. Kind.
When I was little I used to: color on any paper
My favorite season of the year is: Spring
The snack I could live on is: apples
The food that makes me want to barf is: cauliflower
My best friend is: Emma
If I had one wish it would be: that I could be a baby forever
My best memory is: going to Nonna & Nonno's house last summer

I love these surveys. I write down whatever they tell me word for word. So cute! Also, I know I promised pics of the American Girl party today but I'm having trouble downloading the pictures so hopefully tomorrow...

Camp Wilderness

This weekend the boys and John went to Camp Wilderness (a boy scout camp north of Park Rapids, Minnesota) for 3 days. They LOVE it there. They snow-shoed, skiied, hiked, climbed trees, played broom ball, had a bonfire, sled, and slept in bunkbeds. Basically non-stop fun boy stuff! Mary Beth and I were sad without our boys but we had a great girl weekend together! (more on that tomorrow... hint: we had an American Girl pizza party)

It's so cool that the boys and John have the opportunity do go to this great camp every year. They make lots of memories there and have so much fun with their friends.

I'm happy they are home though! :)