Happy Halloween!

Hailey's New Occupation

Sunday.


Stuart and his gadgets. One day he emailed to show me what he already purchased - The Dough-Nu-Matic. Yes, an automatic mini doughnut machine. Note, that I said 'already purchased.' I guess he knew better than to ask first!


With this past Sunday bringing us cold, clouds and wind, Stuart decided it was an time to put the Dough-Nu-Matic to work. And it worked! Little mini doughnuts popped out one by one. At first we gobbled them up, taking turns on who got the next doughnut. After several per person, and lots of dough left, Hailey decided she wanted to deliver the doughnuts to the neighbors. She was quite a trooper finding folks who where home! She took her job very seriously through the wind and cold her doughnuts were delivered. And if you did not get any, you were not home!

The Past Weekend....

Okay, so it is Tuesday and I am posting about Saturday! Well, things get done, just not in a timely fashion around here!

On to the good stuff....

On Saturday morning we went to Festival (our local grocery store) for some Trick-or-Treating. Here is a sneak peek at the kiddos in their costumes.

On Saturday night our friendly neighbors hosted a pumpkin carving party. And get this, there is a photo of me from the party! Really, with my whole face in it!!

And the pumpkins.

And my dish to pass...

Chore Chart!

A very brief tutorial for those of you interested (I think I might have one fan out there!)

How it works.
I take 2-3 job cards and place them in the left pocket. When the job is completed the kiddos place the card into the right pocket. Once all jobs are completed they get the prize out of the pocket. It ranges from a tootsie roll to coins.

Instructions. Or shall I say a guide. Use your own judgement on most of this!

Supplies: (all cut using a 1/4 inch seam allowance)
One piece of cardboard - 8 1/2 by 11 3/4 inches (about)
Main fabric - cut one - 9 1/2 by 25 1/2 inches
Pocket fabric - cut two - 6 1/2 by 4 inches and cut one 20 1/2 by 6 1/2
2 small pieces of self adhesive Velcro

Start with creating your 3 pockets. With rights sides together, sew around edges leaving an open space. Clip corners at 45 degree angle, turn right out, and press. Be sure to press the opening seam nice and flat so we can top sew it closed later. Repeat for all three pockets. I like to top stitch the large pocket around the top flap edge. Don't worry about going all the way around cause you will do that when you sew the pocket on to the main fabric. Just sew the top and about 3 inches down each side. You can top stitch the top of the small fabric if you wish. Take your main fabric and fold in half so you can line up pockets. Arrange pockets on fabric (of course leave room for a seam allowance on sides and bottom). The big pocket. This has about a 2" flap closure so fold bottom up 4". Pin in place. Sew the pockets on using a 1/4 inch top stitch. This will close that hole up that you so nicely ironed! With the large pocket I like to sew one line across the inside, just above the opening to keep the pocket attached to the main fabric. Attached your Velcro tabs.

Fold your main fabric, right sides together. Sew the sides closed. Next turn right side out and insert cardboard. This is where you trim the cardboard if it is not fitting. It can fit snug. Next, flip the bottom opening in and iron. Final step, top stitch around the full outer edge at the same time closing up the bottom. Don't worry, you can easily sew over cardboard!

For the cards, I used 3M Scotch Photo Laminating Sheets, cause that is what I had in my stash! (Thanks Mom!) I just picked random clip art to create the cards for the jobs relevant to my kiddos.

There you are! Just let me know if you have questions.

Ann

Night 3

SUCCESS!!!

It looked something like this...
Down at 7pm
11pm - wimper
3am - wimper
5:30 - bottle & back to sleep

Next step will be gettig rid of the 5:30am bottle, but I am not in a big hurry on that one!

Kiddos sure do learn quick!

Another day...

Sooo much better than yesterday! (already and it is only 10am)

Jenna did excellent last night. Here was night 2 of no food...
Down just before 7pm
Woke around 10pm, fussed for a few min and went right back to sleep
Woke around 11pm, and cried/fussed for about 30 min.
Woke around 3am and fussed for just a min or two.
Woke around 6am and was given a bottle by Daddy.
Up for the day around 7am.

This might sound like a lot of wakings, but to me is wonderful progress.

Stats for Jenna's 9 month appointment.
19.1 lbs - right at 50%
Don't recall how tall but it is in the 60%. This means she had a growth spurt. Yah!!!
Head -- still in the 80%

Having such a crappy day yesterday did make me see how wonderful the kids truly are. Of course they push my every button on a regular basis, but when the days are rough they know how to behave and they do. I was so grateful yesterday that they were so well behaved, that Hailey was such a trooper with thumb and shot, and that Erberts and Gerberts delivers!

And now I am grateful that Daddy is back home :)

Some days....

you just wanna go back to bed!

So here was my day. The doc said that Jenna should be sleeping 8-12 hours at night without feeding. Well, yes, I know this, but think my heart has grown soft with my 3rd baby. BUT time to put my foot down if I ever want a full nights sleep. Here is a glimpse of last night...
Bed at 7pm
Awake at 10pm, fusses just 5 min and goes back to sleep
Awake at 11:55am UNTIL 2:24am, and so is Mommy. But no food! I did it.
Awake at 6am. I give her a bottle.
8am - I wake her up! Time to go to work.
It is now almost 7pm, so she is asleep. Let see how night 2 goes. (Anyone wanna stay over night?!)

So off to work. Call from daycare to learn Hailey got her finger slammed in the door. So at 11am I head from work to daycare. Did I tell you I was tired? The daycare thinks maybe a stitch or two is needed, and neighbor Doc thinks the same (via description over the phone) so off we go. Hailey is one tough cookie. Really, she was sooo good. The available doctor (who is our old ped I no longer see...ummm...you know, the one with the open schedule) decides that stitches are not needed and uses some superglue stuff. And he told Hailey that it would turn black and blue. She is thrilled and asks him if she can go to school tomorrow. He says yes, and she is even more thrilled knowing she gets to show off a black and blue finger! Strange child. At this point the wonderful superglue stuff is peeling off and the cut if open again.......

Did I mention it took 2 Tylenol and 2 Advil to take the bite off my migraine?!!
Oh, did I also mention that Stuart is gone today for a meeting???
And did I mention that I lost the remote so I cannot change the channel? The kids have been watching a Jon & Kate plus 8 marathon! and they like it....

And the phone rang no less than 15 times this evening...so sorry if you called, I did not answer it!

And I made it through. It is 7:14pm and the kids are going to bed, and so am I.

Police Officer on Duty!

So Jackson (and his assistant Hailey) have been on the hunt for naughty words! Yes, those are tickets in his belt and coins he collected. He requires the "large coins" when catching you say a naughty word. So this weekend has been quite lucrative for my boy. Daddy donated a few, Auntie Amy cleaned her purse out, Janice gave a few, and Grandpa was caught as well. Mommy -- clean slate! So visitors came here with a clean mouth!


And I bet you have been wondering what I did at that Crafter's weekend. Well, I accomplished some. The wine tasting was a hit!!! And my have hindered by progress a little, but it sure was fun!

A few hats were knit. I did get a photo of Jenna in her aqua one. The two others have not been photographed yet. Patience my readers, patience!



Speaking of my readers, who reads this blog anyway? Come on, fess up....

And she is off.....

I am back!

From my fun craft weekend. Photos will come!

And updates on Jenna. She is now in motion...which puts a whole new spin on parenting! I think she is getting two more bottom teeth too!

But what I really wanted to share is a new blog I found - No Time for Flash Cards
Okay, the singing might be a little much, but there are some awesome ideas here. Check it out Moms.

The past days....

So we ended our week with Jackson staying home sick on Friday. He woke up sick (I will spare you the details!) in the middle of the night. He was better by about 10am, but enjoyed a day of tv anyway. I came home from work and told him that I was jealous that he got to sit on the couch all day. He preceded to tell me how boring it was!!!

Jackson also is working on the tooth race with Jenna. He lost his dangle tooth (that is what I called the gross unbrushed thing that was hanging there but hurt to touch - yuk!) this week. So that puts him with the new growth of 4 big teeth. Jenna is still winning with 6 new teeth.

As for our weekend, it was very relaxing. We had wonderful weather on Saturday so we took some timeto gather our pumpkins (from the grocery store!) Jenna loved playing with them. She sat in the yard and played by this pumpkin for about an hour!

On Sunday it rained. ALL DAY. Well, it did stop for a moment. During this time Jackson begged to drive his Jeep. He put batteries in the radio, so he feels pretty good crankin' the tunes as he drives around. Funny thing is, he usually has it on the country station! That's my boy! Anyway, the rain stopped on Sunday, or so I thought. I told Jackson and Hailey to take something up to the neighbors house. They got dressed (yes, pjs at 2 in the afternoon is a sign of a good day!) and headed out. I peeked out about 5 min later and this is what I saw! Sorry kiddos, I thought the rain stopped!!! (It really is raining in this photo!)

So that is our week. I am super excited.... Oh, yes. It is Crafter's weekend. Do you know I get to craft for 3 days straight. I know you are jealous, but try to contain yourself. There are 13 other girls just as eager and excited as I am. Don't worry, there is a "What is in it for me?" factor here. Pictures. This blog is not named Kiddos and Crafts for nothin'! Photos of crafts next week. You will have to wait....Oh, I know that you are super excited about this!

Speaking of crafts. Hailey and I started a project. She really wants to learn how to sew. Although she is not patient about me taking the time to read directions or assemble pieces correctly, she is taking her lessons on the machine. She can now life the foot, turn the machine on, go forward and backwards and adjust the speed for me. (FYI - my machine is all button operated, no foot petal needed) What a pro! I recall sewing around 1st grade, so she is just getting a little head start. Oh, back on topic. She wanted to make a dress for Halloween. So we went and picked out fabric. Well, she picked it out. Candy Corn. While I love candy corn, Hailey really loves it. So here it is.....

Pattern from Youcanmakethis.com, called Criss Cross Twirl Top.

"Look at me!"

"I am standing when I should be sleeping!"

Jenna's newest accomplishment, and boy is she proud! Just another parenting challenge....

Just Imagine....

I am dusting off the old knittin' needles and have the project all planned....