Happy Birthday Daddy

The kids were SO excited when I told them we were going to take Balloons and a Cake to Daddy at work. I was actually a little worried that they would spoil the surprise and tell him, but it worked to my advantage that Evan had worked so late on the days leading up to his birthday that he didnt actually see the kids at all.
While Kael was in playschool Naveah and I went and got the balloons. Then after we picked him back up it was off to the shop we went. Unfortunetly Evan wasnt there when we got there and there wasnt really a way to get him to the shop without ruining the surprise. But the kids were still happy just to be at the shop. They love going to visit there.

Before I show you the cake, let me explain it a bit. If your 'electrically challenged' it will probably just look like a mess to you.
This is Amaritech logo, the Company he works for...

This is a panel that they did on one of the rigs...

Now that you've seen that, you'll probably understand this a bit more....

I had so much fun making this cake and I have no problem putting it on my list of one of the coolest things ive ever done. Im very proud. And it was very satisfying to hear Evan call later and say "Wow, uh.......thats crazy!". Every bit of it is edible and it even TASTED good! haha.

For Evans REAL birthday I made him take the day off so we could have some family time. Evans parents came up as well so we got the opportunity to go out without the kids which was nice! We havent done that in ages it seems. We went to Dinner and  a Movie and had a great time!

Happy Birthday Evan (Daddy)
We Love you.

He's Got Moves

Well, I posted not too long ago about Jacek sitting up. Would you believe that it was only days later that he started crawling!?
Jacek loves to move. I figured he'd be on the go pretty early. He doesnt like to be still, even when he needs to sleep! I have to walk him to sleep. Cant sit, bouce or rock...I have to walk!!! I found walking up and down the stairs to be most affective. BUT thats beside the point. The point is, HES MOVING! time for a baby gate!

Jacek loves his jolly jumper. Hes almost as good as Kael was! But there is still time for improvement.

Crawling around the basement in his incredibly appropriate PJs. Snails.

Testing me. Will I get the toy for him???

Naveah, showing Jacek how to crawl.

Copying Naveah. So cute.

Heres the real shocker. He can STAND! He is seriously amazing. He sat on his own, crawled and STOOD all within a matter of 3 weeks. Unbelievable.
Hes only done this about 5 times since. He get so excited that hes standing that he keeps falling backwards. Hes also taken to leaning forward now whenever I hold him up. He just wants to walk. First he needs to learn to put one foot infront of the other.....but we arent gunna do that for at least 4 more months.....right!?

Standing on his own. Barely 6 months old.

Ice Fishing

One thing Kael was really excited to do was to go ice fishing. Evan and Kael were invited along with some friends to go with them for the day. I was excited for Kael to have such a new experience. I packed a bag for them and was sure to put the camera in the top of the bag. I instructed Evan to take lots of pictures! I must have messed that statment up cause he came home with these....

Kael standing outside the fishin hut. Its an old camper with holes cut
out the bottom! awesome.

playing with some bait

Thats right. Slightly disappointing. No picutre of him actually fishing or anything! But I guess there is always next time. I might rig the camera next time and attach it to evans face so he can only see the screen on the camera, and if he wants to see whats going on, he'll have to take pictures. haha.

Kid-Do Gifts

Ive been wanting to get the kids more involved in the whole gift making process now that they are getting older. But I dont want them to make something that will just end up in the garbage or recycle 2 days later. So ive been searching for ideas that are very 'kid friendly' but also 'useable'. I came across 'Stained Glass Crafts' while browsing a craft book at Chapters. I knew right away the kids would love making them and new the PERFECT candidate for recieving them.

These have been such a hit and ive had quite a few people ask me how to do them. So ill explain how to do them in the photo comments...

Cut out Butterfly images out of cardstock. You'll need 2 exact images
per butterfly.

Cut out small shapes of tissue paper then glue around the shape of the
butterfly. Randomly place tissue paper pieces over the glue,
make sure to cover all the holes. dont worry about 'staying in the lines'

They were so excited to use glue. Theyve been hounding me to use scissors and glue, so this was the perfect project. This takes more of 'Moms' crafty abilities then theirs, but the few minutes of fun the kids had smothering these in tissue paper was worth it.



Once completely covered attach the other butterfly cut out on the back.
Cut off any bits of tissue that are sticking out.




carefully paint over all of it with Mod Podge ( can buy at any craft store)
Probably best to do one side then the other, 2- 3 coats each.



Let dry (overnight)

punch wholes in the corners and attach with metal loops.
I just made some out of some metal wire I had.
Hook them together and hang in the window!!!

Happy Birthday Grama Pow-Whoa!