Play Silks!

I dyed up some super fun play silks for the kiddos. Silk scarves from Dharma Trading Co., dyed with food coloring and vinegar...mucho fun! 

Dino Action!

Elefun!

Frosting and Sprinkles with Some Cookies Buried in There...Somewhere...

Jayson got to make his Christmas cookies today. He may have eaten his own body weight in frosting and sprinkles. That's why we only do this once a year...

In Da' (Gingerbread) House

Here is our little gingerbread house! I've got icing in my hair, and my kitchen looks like a hurricane just blasted through Candy Land, but it's done! I don't really bake, but Jayson has been begging to make a gingerbread house since Halloween. So, I really had no choice. I used this recipe for the dough, but designed my own template. The dough came together really well and I didn't even burn it. It's a Christmas miracle!

I was disappointed with one thing though: Safeway had no old school, cheap candy! No peppermints, no gumdrops...WTF Safeway?!

Mama's little helper, except for the 350 times he bumped my elbow while I was piping on the icing.

Melted Jolly Rancher window!

Creepy Gingerbread Man.

Our Frosted Mini Wheats roof and coconut snow.

Kyle Gets a Haircut.

I FINALLY cut Kyle's hair. This is my first attempt at cutting hair since I gave Jayson that Dumb and Dumber haircut...

The Breakfast Bandit

This morning, Jayson got out of his seat only to have Kyle jump into his chair and finish his breakfast. Kyle had no interest in eating his own breakfast, and obviously thinks that highchairs and plastic forks are for no0bs.

In other news, This is my 100th post!!!! Wooooo0t!

Fun with Pointy Sticks

I just knitted up these Fall inspired longies/ MC Hammer Pants for Kyle.

It's WHAT? PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!

Kyle's Halloween costume. I can't look at this picture without laughing.

Double Sided Tape and Earthquakes.

We had our first storm of the season this week. What better time to do some crafting with the kiddos. (OK, kiddo...Kyle doesn't craft, he mostly just destroys stuff.) Jayson is my crafter, if it involves paint and glue, he's there! For our wreath, I just had him go wild with red and yellow paint on a paper grocery bag. I figured the orange would just sort of happen, and it did. While he took his nap, I cut out the leaves. When he woke up, we got to constructing the wreath. I used a paper plate as a base. I just put double sided tape on the back of each leaf and let him stick them where ever he pleased.

But, that's not the end of this crafty story...

We had a pretty good earthquake last night, and our poor wreath fell off it's shelf and broke into a million leafy pieces. I will be reconstructing said wreath with my glue gun. Double sided tape and earthquakes suck.

Beating the Heat (in the smallest pool ever).

You would have a really small pool too, if you had no hose, and had to fill it up with a pitcher!

Kyle has no idea...

Jayson enjoying his luxurious pool.

Kiddie pool yoga, the newest fitness craze.

Un-Fancy Cloth Napkins

I am really making an effort to used fewer paper napkins and paper towels in my house. I hate spending money on things that will end up in the trash. I could be saving that money for an embroidery machine! (or just blowing it on fabric.) Anything is better than just throwing it in the trash!

The main consumers of paper towels around here are messy little faces. So, I came up with these fun and kid friendly cloth napkins. They are made from cotton quilting fabric and simply serged around the edges. Obviously, you could press and hem them, they would actually look nicer. But, I don't have that kind of time (or motivation). They are 8 1/2" square. Just the right size for little hands. And, since they don't take much fabric, they are a great stash buster.

A Few Small Steps for Kyle, One Giant Leap Into Toddlerhood.

I can't believe my baby is walking! Waaaaahhhhhh!

Sweet.

Bento Picnic.

Today, I packed up a cute bento picnic lunch for the boys, and we headed down to the little park behind our condo. The park sits between our place and the BART Station("Bay Area Rapid Transit" for you non-northern California readers). Jayson loves to watch the trains go by, so it's always a fun little excursion.

I made some PB&J sandwiches with the awesome pomegranate jelly my grandpa makes every year. On a side note: He also makes an apple pie that will change your life! I still need to get his recipe and do a post about it.

Grandpa, if you are reading this: We are running low on jelly. Hint, hint.

Cookin' with Kyle

Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture.

Jayson has been asking me if he can sew. So, I came up with this little project for him. It's the paper plate shaker that we all know and love, with a stitchy twist.

1: Have your lovely and well behaved child, decorate two paper plates. You can get MUCH more involved in this step than we did. You can get crazy with glitter and paint and all kinds of stuff. Jayson was OK with just coloring it. Take note of his time-saving technique.
2: Here are your fabulously decorated plates.
3: Add some dry beans/ rice/ macaroni to one of the plates.
4: Glue your plates together. I used hot glue, because I love my glue gun.

5: It should look something like this.
6: Poke or punch holes evenly around the edge.
7: Have the aforementioned well behaved child sew around the edge with yarn and a blunt-tipped needle.
8: Ta-Da!

Good Things Grow On Small Trees.

We got a calamansi tree! I've been wanting one forever. I decided last weekend that I absolutely needed to have one NOW! So, we drove down to Fremont in over 100 degree weather, and picked one up. It's just the cutest little tree ever! It even came with fruit and blossoms on it. INSTANT GRATIFICATION!

Git 'Er Done!



So, what's the big deal about calamansi? Well, what other fruit makes an awesome dip for lumpia/seafood/anything deep-fried AND cures the common cold? ...Yeah, that's what I thought.

Super Dip
soy sauce + a squeeze of calamansi juice.

Lime-onade AKA Best thing ever, when you have a cold.
calamansi juice + honey + hot water

Carnivorous Plants: Fun for the whole family.

Yesterday, Jayson and I wanted to make a puppet. We originally wanted to make a T-rex. That didn't go so well....Then I thought, "you know what would be awesome?...A Venus Fly Trap puppet." Not only are Venus Fly Traps super cool, they are also WAY easier to make than a T-Rex!

You too can make a Venus Fly Trap puppet with the quick tutorial below. Fire up your glue gun and dig out those googley eyes!



1: Cut out an elongated circle with wiggly edges. This is the "head" of the fly trap.
2: Run a line of hot glue about 1 1/2" from the center line, then fold in half.
3: It should look like this.
4: Cut a half circle from the folded shape. Your hand will have to fit through here, so make it large enough.



5:It should now look like this.
6: Cut a rectangle, so that when it is rolled into a tube with a 1/2" overlap, it will fit into the hole you just cut in your wiggley shape. Add glue and roll into a tube. This is the stem of your fly trap.
7. Cut another piece of felt to fit the inside of your fly trap. Glue down just around the edges, as you will need to be able to get your hand in here.
8: Cut out a leaf shape like this.



9: Run a line of glue down the center of the leaf.
10: Fold the leaf in half. Press together along the crease. When the glue has cooled, open it up.
11: Glue the leaf to the bottom of the tube. Glue at the bottom only.
12: You should now have something that looks like this.



13: Cut out pieces for a fly, and get some googley eyes.
14: Make a fly
15: Glue the fly into the mouth of the fly trap.
16: Hand sew the head to the stem. Make sure to sew the little flaps down to the sides of the stem.

Enjoy your new super awesome puppet.

Click on any of the pictures for a closer look.

If I were Hank Hill, I would say: I make cloth diapers and cloth diaper accesories...

I've done some cloth diaper related posts, but today, we are going to talk cloth wipes. If you are already using cloth diapers, using cloth wipes is a no-brainer. Even parents who use disposable diapers may opt for cloth wipes, as they are much better for baby's skin. Disposable wipes generally contain loads of chemicals that have no place on a baby's butt.

There are two major ways of using cloth wipes: 1. Wipes are placed in a container or wipes warmer and pre-saturated with wipe solution. 2. Wipes are stored dry and then squirted with wipe solution just before use. I do the latter, as homemade wipe solutions don't contain any preservatives, this could lead to things getting yucky. I mix up just enough solution for a few days, to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria.

After use, wipes are just thrown in the diaper pail and washed with the diapers.

How to make your own cloth wipes:

Wipes can be made with one or two layers. They also come in a variety of sizes. I like 7" x 7". You may also choose to round off the corners or leave them square. There are also many ways to make wipes, depending on the equipment that you have available to you.

Regardless of your sewing method, you will start of by cutting your fabric into squares. Pin your two sides together if making double sided wipes.

Serged Method: This is a quick and durable method, and my favorite. Just serge around your fabric squares, and BAM! wipes!

Sewing machine method: I am really not into turning and top-stitching wipes. It's just to bulky and labor intensive. Here is what you can do instead: Stitch around the wipe, about 1/2" from the edge. You can use a straight stitch, or any decorative stitch. Then use pinking shears to trim the edges.

Hand sewn method. Simply blanket stitch around the edge of the wipe, using embroidery floss. If you are using flannel, you should press your edges under, as it just frays like crazy. This is definitely the cutest method of the three. It does take a while, but it's a portable, little project, that you can do just about anywhere. You could actually use any edging stitch that would keep your fabric from fraying, so the options are limitless.

You can use two different fabrics on your two layer wipes. Good fabrics include:

Sherpa
Baby Terry
Cotton Knits
Flannel
Birdseye
Diaper Twill
Velour
Cotton or Bamboo Fleece

My homemade wipe solution:

There are a lot of different recipes for wipe solutions out there, unfortunately, a lot of them have like a hundred ingredients. Mine has three.

Fill a squeeze bottle with warm water. Add 2-3 drops of baby wash. Add a squirt of baby lotion or aloe gel. Replace the lid and shake until the lotion has dissolved. Done.

A Naptime Miracle

For the first time ever, we have both boys sleeping in their own beds, in their own room, at the same time!