Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Every once in a while I get crafty.

The crayon bits were bothering me. They were taking over the crayon bin and everyone avoids them. What are they good for anyway? Choking on perhaps? So I thought that certainly we could make something cute with them by melting them. When I googled it I felt way less crafty because clearly every other mom in the history of the world has done this before. These were the simple directions I followed. It was fun and easy to get the kids involved.
I wanted to put it up here because I will certainly do it again.

We set up stations:
-a bowl for soaking crayons so that the labels would peel off easily
-a washcloth for patting dry crayons after soaking
-a container for the labels/paper
-muffin tin

Then I let Caitlin design her new crayons by placing the bits in the muffin wells. She made one pink/purple, many mixtures, one of various yellows--whatever. Once the colors schemes were designed, we broke the crayon bits down further as best as we could by breaking them into tiny bits with our hands.


Then we popped them in a 250-300 degree oven. It took maybe 10 minutes. Just until they were soupy. The thing that I did wrong was I didn't make each muffin/crayon equal size, so the ones with less crayon bits were melted way before the ones with more. So if I did it again, I would make them all the same as much as possible. In a couple cases, most of the crayons were melted together, but one or two bits were sticking straight up. I just used a wooden craft/popsicle stick to mash them in while they were hot and that worked okay. Note--do not mix them up unless you want a bunch of brown crayon disks in the end.
Then you pop them in the freezer for 30-60 minutes and then kind of fall out after that. Take them out carefully b/c they're pretty brittle and break easily.

The end product is pretty fun. They kept Caitlin busy coloring and experimenting for a good 2 hours this afternoon. The 2 year olds liked them too. We will do this again. They'd make fun little gifts too--especially if you have cuter muffin tins or the silicone ones that come in cute shapes. But I really like the circular ones.


Thursday, March 24, 2011

2 (ish) year stats

A boring little blurb so that I can look back 15 years from now, when i finally get their baby books going, and write down where they were at...

Ryan:
25 pounds 8 ounces
33 inches tall
10th percentile for both for an actual 2 year old

Nora:
27 pounds 6 ounces--50th percentile for an actual 2 year old
35 inches tall--75th percentile for an actual 2 year old


Their "adjusted" bday is not until May 17th, so they aren't quite supposed to be 2 yet. We're really happy with their growth, especially considering Ryan had completely fallen off the growth chart during his hospitalization last month. He has gained 2 pounds in the past 4 weeks! amazing. No developmental delays or any other concerns. They were both really well behaved with our pediatrician.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tiny dancers



Caitlin started her 2nd tap session a couple weeks ago and this is the first time I've seen her really get excited about dance and want to do it at home. She loves it.
Don't let her slow start fool you--she's got some moves. My favorite is right near the end with the pivots and head turns-"fancy dancing."


Monday, March 14, 2011

Nana and Grandpa visit

We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast and then got to spend some time with Nana ("neena" if you're Nora). Caitlin got in her first bike ride of the season with Grandpa. During this time, Nora got hold of Caitlin's tap shoes and we found out that we had a second little dancer on our hands.


Nora tapped


Ryan checked out Grandpa's watch


of course the boys gathered round the technology

Nora tapped

Everyone loved the iThing

Nora tapped

Smiled


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Flower Power - Caitlin's 5th Brithday

Feb 5, 2010:
I had lost my voice, so John got to be the ring leader. Caitlin had requested a garden party. First up was planting seeds and decorating pots. The snow tried to ruin the party and it succeeded in stopping a few friends from coming, sadly, but we did have a fun time despite that. We were planning on having the parents drop off the kids, but it was snowing so bad, we decided to keep the parents around and order some pizza to serve them at the last minute.



Then time for a flower pinata! (how do you get a ~ in there???)

Caitlin picked out this outfit just for her party...flower print top and green tights...just like a flower.








Just now noticing the child standing on the chair. awesome supervision on our parts, right?

Dinner was choice of PB&J or hot dog, carrot sticks and apple slices.

Dessert--dirt cups.

Caitlin had a great party. John and I had a really great time planning and hosting and are very thankful for a joyful day for our FIVE year old.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Better late than never--Christmas 2010

A few random shots from Christmas. I, sadly, don't have any of the gathering with the cousins from John's side of the family. BOOO! I did add one of Cousin Soren who came over to visit Nana and Grandpa's with us to do some sledding and snowman making with Caitlin. Lots of snow and fun time outside.



Ryan: I'm sorry about the pink snowpants and purple boots. They fit you better than Nora. That's all I can say.



Christmas at Nana and Grandpas:





Ryan loves looking at these mugs my parents had made for us. Everytime we get them out, he points at the pictures and says everyone's names.



Christmas at our house when we got home on the 26th.

wohoo! the toaster nazi gets a new toaster.



Thursday, March 3, 2011

Interview with Caitlin March 3, 2011

Someone sent me this on Facebook:

1. What is something mom always says to you?

be patient.

2. What makes mom happy?

me being happy.

3. What makes mom sad?

me being sad.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

tickle.

5. What was your mom like as a child?

just like me.

6. How old is your mom?

32.

7. How tall is your mom?

i don't know how many inches.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

snuggle with her kids.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

lay on the couch.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

her kids.

11. What is your mom really good at?

taking care of her kids.

12. What is your mom not very good at?

playing basketball.

13. What does your mom do for a job?

working at the hospital. gives medicine.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?

oranges.

15.What makes you proud of your mom?

being my mommy.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Elmo.

17. What do you and your mom do together?

art projects.

18. How are you and your mom the same?

brown hair.

19. How are you and your mom different?.

Different colored skin.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

because you first loved me. (I think she is getting me confused with Jesus)

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?

He loves her.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

to the Ypsilanti Meijer.