Sew Lately? Yes I have.

I was getting really tired of twisting and pulling back my vertical blinds, and I still had left over fabric from when I made this curtain and after doing alot of measuring and making sure I had my marks right before cutting I made this new pull back curtain. The dark fabric works great at keeping the heat out of the house. I like the look of curtains alot better than vinyl blinds. I quite enjoyed taking down the old icky blinds, using the power drill, filling in old holes in the wall, making them new again with matching paint, and putting up my new curtain rod. When its all done you can say AHHHHH much better.

I have enjoyed sewing lately, when I have the time and a project I believe I can accomplish. Since I am no seamstress and could easily mess up the fabric I am using, I tend to buy fabric when it is on a sweet deal (meaning cheap) and then figure out what sort of project I want to do with it. The fabric below was $1 a yard and they looked fun, so I called my friend Kelly who CAN be called a seamstress over for a sew your own apron/kid play date afternoon. Going through the steps of sewing is so much easier with someone else there you can turn to and say "Um, did I do that right?" when the answer is YES it's a good little moment!

And again talented Kelly hosts a DIY class for our ward and we were taught how to make these cute buttercup bags

They were really fun to make and I can check off being able to do ruffles and pleats correctly thanks to Kelly!!

First Cut

Today was Clayton's last day of Kindergarten and before he went on the bus (he has afternoon K) I cut all the boy's hair on the patio since we were already out playing in the pool. It's real easy clean up as far as cutting hair goes when you can do it outside and have a custom wash and shampoo session out in the kiddie pool!! I teased Clay and told him the neighbors might think this was the only way he could get a bath. ha ha ha He had some hard giggles about that one. This is Justin's first hair cut with the buzzers. I have given him quick little trims with scissors while in the bath tub before, but this was his first real cut. How did he do? AWESOME!! He sat better for me than his older brothers who couldn't stop asking "Are you done yet?" I was prepared to do touch ups with Justin when he had enough and would be done sitting still but no need, he didn't have a care in the world except for that mini tootsie pop I gave him before we started. You got to love those suckers that can keep any kid focused on eating them right up!

His hair isn't fixed in this pic but he definitely looks like a little man to me!

Now, it's Summer!!!

It really doesn't become summer time around here until we break out some sort of kiddie pool and relish in the nice hot weather. But even then it isn't complete until Nate can come home and do this to the boys!
You can tell Nate loves to play tons of games with his rowdy boys. Wrestling, hide N seek, basketball, baseball, splash dunk in the pool - you name it and he is game for it and usually comes up with a new version of everything to make it more fun.

Clay thought he could out smart Nate each time, but I see no pictures of Nathan being carried off into the pool and completely wet! After each dunking session, Clay would keep coming back for more, laughing the whole time.

Do you see the air time Hayden got!! He came up with wide eyes and a huge grin!!

This pool was filled just about two hours before the craziness began, so the water.... not so warm...in fact quite cold!!! But that does not stop the fun from happening!

Both boys had a splash surprise from Nate while fully dressed. I seriously can't keep a straight face when looking at these undee showing pictures of Hayden. Ha ha ha Are those Buzz Light year unmentionables there H! We finished the night off with Hot dogs, fresh homemade potato salad, pop, and no bake cookies out side on the patio. A great kick off to the summer season I think!

Hayden's Preschool Graduation

Hayden attends a preschool given by High School students in Crystal Lake. He has gone there for two years now and has a lot of fun. He has a lot of energy and a couple of times while waiting in the car to pick him up I have seen him pulling the arms of his teachers while running in place trying to make everyone to go at his pace.

Hayden has his best est friend Ethan in his class. Each one is always asking about the other and both are really excited when they see each other and can play. It is really fun when we have play dates and Clayton, Hayden, and Justin can play tons of boy games with Ethan and his little brother Blake.

At the graduation each preschool student was given an award. Last year Hayden was given the Monkey award because again his high energy and that he would give you a monkey face on cue. So this year it was funny to see him go from Monkey Award to Most intelligent!! I guess this means you can track Hayden's improvements through preschool from Monkey status to Einstein!!

Touch a Truck

A bunch of Fire trucks, Police Cars, Army Riggs, Ambulances, and Big Semis are just the thing for a bunch of boys!! The Touch a Truck Event at the Algonquin Commons Outdoor Mall
was tons of fun for my boys, they came back with fire hats, balls, coloring booklets and tried some good samples of the restaurants located throughout the outdoor mall area! Justin even gave us a lot of ohhhhhhs and ahhhhhhhs but mostly really liked his little soft soccer ball the policeman gave him.

Clay and Hayden said all the army stuff reminded them of their Uncle Ben, Nate's lil bro.

Star it up Man!!

I informed Hayden that he will never be this comfortable in the back of a police car!!

The fire truck was really neat with all it's buttons and control knobs everywhere.

Hayden pushing down hard to make this old time horn work.

And for benefit of Clay who took this picture I will post it. Clay had read the sign "Hot Mama" and thought it would be funny to take a picture of me by it. And me? Hey I will take any little props I can get, even if I think Clay was trying to make more of a joke about it!!

Arizona Zoo 2010

I LOVE the Zoo!! No matter how old I get I will never get tired of it! I am a little late getting the zoo post out but I didn't want to forget it, because it so too fun. At this zoo they have 2 times during the day where you can go and feed tropical birds. Everyone loves this. I mean really who doesn't crack a huge smile when a bird lands on your arm, or in my dad's case his head, and you are just fascinated with them. And a little cautious about being pooped on.

Hayden and his fun Aunt Sophie checking out the flamingos. Clay looked at them and said "What"s up with their legs?" ;) Of course the zoo has beautiful, amazing, and unique animals everywhere you turn but this peacock parading around the entire zoo was so cool. I wonder since he is not caged how they keep him the right areas? He must know its a good zoo and will stick around.

Justin had alot of fun too and like the petting zoo alot. There is no fear there, probably because it hasn't sunk in that these are live animals and not stuffed ones.

This year the zoo had a new aquarium exhibits with lots of weird under the sea creatures. Just outside the different aquariums, they had a new log ride you could take for an outrageous price of $6 per person, but having a great dad and grandpa around to make sure everyone experiences not only the zoo but a fun ride as well, we got on to be splash. Clayton was not for this ride at all. He like to get used to things before plunging on in. Not Hayden, he was all for it. This is not some kiddie ride either, it caught my breath a little on the way down the big drop and Hayden loved every minute of it. Saying "Again, that was so fun!"Hayden sat here and stared at the ride going up and down around and back again. Commentating the whole thing to himself. "Around the corner....then up up up the tower......down it goes SPLASH he he he he he .... that's cool" He is such a character.

Clay got to have his own fun with Grandpa Ron going and the Sky Ride over looking the whole zoo in the air.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad for such a great time. We all loved it!!