A Graduate

Wow!  The school year is over, and W graduated from the 5th grade!!!  He will start middle school in the fall.  It is so weird that he is done with elementary school.  I swear he just started kindergarten a few weeks ago.

He led the pledge...

Getting his certificate....

The last elementary picture of my oldest...

It is really hard to believe.

Done with the Crud

I would like to take this opportunity to officially say that my household is done being sick.  I realize that this might not last longer than a week, but at this point, all of the little ones are well, and I on quickly getting there myself.  So, yes, I was the last one sick.  I apologize to my 2 followers for not posting this past week.  I have managed to post through most of the kids' illnesses, but mine took my out of blogging.  I finished some projects while coming down with the crud, but completely forgot about nice little things like pictures.  I have some things to get caught up on at the house (Hello, laundry!) and then I will try to get something posted!
On a much happier note, I got to be at a beautiful baptism today.  The sweet baby wore the dress that her mom and grandmother were baptized in.  She looked around the church and was quite happy.  Baptisms are so happy and full of promise.  I love being invited to attend!
And, the twins lasted almost all of the service in the nursery at a church that they had never been to before!  We made it to the car before the screaming started.  Apparently, they only then realized that it was past their lunchtime and working into naptime.  :-)

Birthday Cake

I always make my kids' birthday cakes.  It is something that I really enjoy doing.  This year, W is on a Mario kick.  I used the same tutorial for his cake that I used for his pillow.  Except, instead of fabric squares, I used M & M candies. It turned out awesome!!!

(Yes, I know it is on a Christmas tray.  It has been a crazy week.)

Pants, With Big Pockets

I have noticed that lots of baby and toddler clothing has pockets, but the pockets are pretty unusable to the baby  or toddler wearing the clothes.  Little D loves pockets and will put stuff in them all day, but only if he can actually get his hand in and out of the pocket.  So, I have started adding pockets to the pants that I make for him.

I make a lot of his pants, simply because he has really short legs.  The short legs give him a really cute run/walk style, but I get tired of rolling the bottoms of his pants up.  I use a homemade (traced pants and made them shorter pattern) for him that seems to work well.  I have started making a fully lined, about 4x4 inch pocket and putting it on his pants so that it opens slightly above his knee.

It seems to be working out okay for him!  Now to work on wearing shoes that match!

W's 11th Birthday

He is growing up on me, and his birthday is today to prove it to the world.  He has grown up sooo much this year, yet 11 seems much too old.  It wasn't that long ago that he was doing the same stuff that D and M are doing now.  Could it really be that 11 years have passed since he made my life so much brighter and all of my days full of wonder?  He will always be my baby, but I am scared that he will soon be taller than me.  So, Happy Birthday, W!  I love you!!!

Mario Pillow

For W's redone room, I found this tutorial online just a few days before I needed it to be finished!  I love the idea and how they made an entire quilt, but I had hours to work with, not whole days.  I decided to use fleece and just make one Mario for a pillow.  (Note to self and anyone who cares...  Next time, use fleece that is all the same weight.  The various thicknesses did not help the squares line up.)
First, I had to cut out 272 2-inch squares.  I love my rotary cutter.

I then, used the grid in the tutorial to get each row stacked in order.  This helps speed up the sewing, but don't forget to double check when doing the actual sewing.

Then, after sewing a few rows, I would sew the rows together.  This really makes it look like something that might actually be finished before his birthday!  Here is how it all went together.  I took a picture about every 12-18 hours.  I just did it a bit here and there since I was home with sick toddlers for most of it.

 Then, I added a border all around Mario, so that he would not lose any body parts on the pillow edges and look weird.

 I cut a piece of fabric for the backing.  This is where I should have used pins, but time was running out.  I sewed them together, rights sides together, leaving a hole for turning right side out.  Trimmed the corners, turned it right sides out, stuffed it with 3 bags of stuffing, and hand sewed the opening shut!

 Add finished pillow to what I now know if called "Video Game HQ."

I will probably revisit this tutorial to make him a quilt, but that will just have to wait.  I can only handle so many tiny squares in one week.

W's Birthday Surprise

Yes, I actually had a Saturday with no children in my home.  D and M are with their dad, and W had gone on a scout camping trip.  So, as planned, my mom and I spent the day destroying redecorating W's room for his birthday.  I had already ordered and received a blanket and wall stickers online.  I found this awesome tutorial and used it to make a huge pillow that was finished on this morning (More on that later).  The new bed was put together, and the room cleaned from top to bottom.  And now..... W's room.
The view from the door....  (And yes, I know that there is a lack of curtain on the window.  I can really only do so much with him only being gone for 27 hours.)

Mario wall...

The new bed... (The slide is fun.)

 W's Halloween picture is hanging over the bed, and I found the little Mario stickers at Target!

The video game cave is under the bed.  The giant bowl of stuff is for him to put away.  I don't want to mess up any of the game stuff.  The stickers under the bed came from IKEA.

And, a better shot of his pillow.  I will post more about making it later!

It is still not close to everyone's view of a perfect kids bedroom, but I think he will love it!  I will try to get some reaction pictures when he sees it!

A Birthday

Birthdays are a big thing in our family.  Not just as a reminder of children growing up, but also as a point to celebrate their life and what is important to them.  As anyone with more than themselves to celebrate knows, it is hard to always acknowledge fully what is important to others.  It is even harder to always show others their importance to you through your own actions.  I think birthdays are a great time to concentrate on this for lots of reasons!  First, birthdays are on the same day each year.  This makes planning a bit easier, and, even though it sometimes isn't at the top of our list, the day shouldn't really "sneak up" on us.  Second, I am blessed to have had W on a day that is a work holiday for me each year, and the twins are in the summer, so life is more flexible!  Third, a cake is normal for birthdays, so that is automatic festivity right there.
Well, W's birthday is quickly approaching.  He will be 11.  Every time that I say or write that number, it still seems far too old for my child, but he keeps reminding me that it is correct.  Until a few mornings, I had no idea what to do for his birthday.  I asked him to make a birthday list last week.  It included a mini flat screen TV and a laptop.  Not happening.
Then, last Saturday morning, we were out doing the yard sale circuit.  We saw a semi-loft bed for sale. (It has a big crawl space under it, but not room for stuff like a desk.  I have no idea what the real name for it is.)  I asked W if a new, cooler, video game space providing bed would be a good present for his birthday.  He was very sure that it would be a good thing.  So, my mom and I now have a good chunk of his birthday present, but he already knows about it.  The surprise factor is totally gone.  But, he has a Boy Scout camping trip this weekend, the weekend before his birthday.
Inspiration struck for the rest of his present as I looked at his wants list.  I started thinking about what had been on his Christmas list but he didn't end up getting.  I started thinking that redoing his bedroom would be the perfect 11th birthday gift, as long as he doesn't get mad about me messing with his stuff!  He has been asking to switch out posters and stuff decorating his room for a few months now, and he wanted Mario bedding for Christmas but didn't get it.  Can you see how perfect this opportunity is??????
Obviously, we will need to do before and after photos, but he can't find out about this before his camping trip.  I had to sneak pictures while he was at school, so I do apologize for the disaster area that is his room.  (In all honesty, that is it's average level of neatness.  I know that one of my friends is now shaking her head and thinking how quickly she could have it in order.  Yes, you.)  So, I present the before photos.  As you can see, we haven't redone his room decor in the 5 years that we have been here.  We did start taking down some posters that were going to be in the way of the new bed.  And, I know the bedrooms in this house are little.  I can't make them grow any.

Next week, you will get to see the finished room and his reaction!

Upcoming....

W's birthday is next week.  I found something online yesterday that is awesome, and my version of it is about halfway finished.  The only problem with it, W reads my blog.  I can't tell anyone what it is, but it is awesome!!!!  I can't wait to share it!!!!

Sick Little Ones

The little ones are sick, again.  Daycare is working out so not well for us. :-(  Trying to find the sunshine in all the crud.  Hope to have something interesting for you to read once they are well again!

Have a great day!