Rachel Repeat :: 3

Tonight after dinner, Royal and I were sitting at the kitchen table talking.  The kids were doing their usual wild thing right around us, which for the most part is no big deal.  Tonight, as we were talking, Jayden started putting these little wooden blocks down the back of my shirt.  Then he'd pull out the bottom of my shirt and they'd all come crashing to the floor.  He thought it was so hilarious, he started putting wooden blocks down the back and the front of my shirt to make me look really fat and lumpy.  Eventually his fun had to come to an end, as I was going to a workout class this evening.  So, I stand up and my shirt empties all of it's wooden blocks onto the floor, and I leave to go workout.

During the core work part of the class, I kept feeling like I was laying on something hard.  I reached back, well as best as I could between my shoulder blades to make sure there wasn't a wooden block stuck back there.  The wooden blocks weren't tiny, so I was sure that if it was something I couldn't reach, surely someone would of noticed and said, 'Um, you got something weird sticking out of your back' (or maybe not...)

So, I finish up my classes, come home, read a little Charlotte's Web to Jayden, tuck him into bed and then head into the bathroom to take a quick shower.  As I am stripping off my sports bra, I see out of the corner of my eye, a couple things fall to the floor and as I bend down to pick them up, I say,


"2 crayons!  I knew there was something in my shirt!"

So I now have 2 crayon shaped bruises forming on my back from where Jayden slipped some crayons into the back of my sports bra.  Awesome!

Valentine Presents

As part of the kid's valentines presents, I sewed them some last minute gifts...like yesterday.  :)

For Jayden, he got what he asked me for, a dinosaur blanket.  And then I made him a matching headwarmer thingy.   This time though I got smart and instead of it being a pull onto your head kinda thing, I made it adjustable with velcro!  I know, I'm a genius!

And the velcro comes in real handy when you are putting it on a head that has pigtails.  Like Willow, who got a matching skirt to go with hers!

 

And I'm not sure, but these 2 might be related....

Wheat Field

I went to Paint the Towne again on Thursday night with a couple friends, Megan and Nicole.  We painted Van Gogh's Wheat Field and thank goodness Nicole brought margaritas with her because me and this painting were not getting along very well.  :)

But here we are with our finished paintings! 

Shoveling Snow

The kids have been going a little stir crazy around here.  Jayden had school canceled on Wednesday because of snow and then Thursday and Friday were scheduled off for parent/teacher conferences.  And thanks to snow and Willow's hurt foot and super cold temps, we've been spending A. LOT. of time inside.  Jayden keeps asking me when it's going to get hot again, because he's so tired of being cold and being inside.

At one point, Jayden laid blankets down on the floor, from his room all the way to the kitchen, to make a "runway" for him and Willow to race on.  Carpet just wasn't good enough.  :)

 

But then yesterday, it was a sunny 20 some degrees, and my friend Megan, who happens to be like 8 months pregnant was coming over to drop off a crate for Sam and my driveway had a good foot of snow sitting on it.  I did not want her to have to try and walk through it and worry about there being a bunch of ice underneath.  So, I bundled up the kids, Willow miraculously let me put snow boots on her, and we headed outside to shovel snow.  Royal and I don't have any snow shoveling equipment, being from Washington and all, so I had to do it with a flat nosed shovel.  Just so Royal knows, I am not doing that again.  There will be snow shovels, if not a snow blower in our garage the next time it dumps snow on us.  :)

Willow mainly played with our sand toys and shoveled snow into buckets and made snow castles.

 

 

And Jayden decided he was going to start by shoveling the street. 

 

I am wondering why in the world I pay HOA dues, yet my street did not get plowed????  I really don't mind that much, the kids always want me to go fast through the snow so that we can get the back end of the car to start slipping all over the place.  We think it's kinda fun.  :)

Once Megan dropped of the crate, the kids were really worried that Sam might not fit in his new "room".  So, they decided to get in it with him just to make sure he would be comfortable.

I think he fits!

What Willow Wears :: 9

(This post is for Jojee, because Jojee bought Willow the sparkly chucks)

Last weekend, while Royal, Jayden, Willow, and Sam were all wrestling, Sam managed to step on Willow's foot.   For 2 days she wouldn't walk on it, she crawled or walked on her knees or had me carry her places.  Eventually she started walking on the outside of her foot and limped around to get places.  She also wouldn't put on any shoes, she would start crying and say that it hurt her foot.  So, for 3 days Willow had to be carried wherever we went because there is snow everywhere and she couldn't wear shoes.  Finally, on Thursday, while picking out every piece to her outfit (including how her hair was to be done),  she picked out Jojee's sparkly chucks and since they are the only tie shoes she has, I could tie them loosely so they wouldn't hurt her foot.

Sometimes I love the outfits Willow picks out!

Snow Ice Cream

I have never even heard of making snow ice cream until this year.  After all the snow we've been getting the past couple of weeks, I see people posting things about making snow ice cream as a kid, making it with their kids.  And I'm like, 'what in the world is snow ice cream?'  Finally, my friend Molly posted a recipe!  So, since everything around here is canceled again because of snow and the kids and I needed something new to do, we decided to make some.

The kids put on their boots and coats and ventured out to collect some snow.

 

 

Then we brought it inside and took turns measuring out the snow.  Added some milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt.  And took turns stirring it up.

 

And then the kids ate it!!!!!   Jayden said it was the most delicious thing he has ever eaten.

 

Recipe:
5 C snow
1/2 C milk
1/2 C sugar
1 t vanilla
pinch of salt

Mix all together in a bowl and eat

What Willow Wears :: 8

Willow likes to wear headbands to help keep her hair out of her face.  She likes to wear them flash dance style though!

And I love the 2 fingers in the mouth and 1 up the nose look too!