San Diego Zoo & March 2016 - Week 3

Our big excitement for this month was a short trip down to San Diego to take a trip to the zoo.  This was our Christmas present from my mom & step-dad.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids really enjoyed it as it was their first visit to that zoo.  We drove down on Sunday afternoon and stayed the night down there so we could be at the zoo on time the next morning.

This is all for 1 night.  We do not travel lightly. . . .

When we first arrived at the zoo, we took a 45 minutes bus tour around most of the park.

Cousins!

Madison the navigator

Kyle and I took a picture by this statue when we were dating.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find it to upload it.  But someday, we will be able to compare the photos.  Probably 11 years apart.

I have been working on a couple small projects for the girls bathroom.  I made plaques with their initials to hang above their new towel hooks.  We had a towel bar before, but it was hard for them to get their towels on and off.  I also made another hair bow hanger.  Our hair bow collection with 3 girls gets a little crazy.  We have now lined up someone to redo our bathtubs and shower surrounds in about 3 weeks.  So you will be seeing more on that in coming weeks.

The one on the far left is the new one.  It matches the headband holder I made last year, although you can't really see that as it is so full.

Here are a couple more random pictures:

Katelyn wrote a story about fairies.  She is really enjoying writing stories, letters, and journaling lately.

 

Here is a video of Madison chatting & playing that I forgot to post last week.  It is a little long, but she dances towards the end of it.

Cute Quotes & Quick Stories:
- "Maybe one day, Mommy, you will see me on TV as President.  But I still also want to be a teacher and a scientist."  - Katelyn
- Madison managed to climb into the full bath tub by herself - with shorts and shoes still on.

Crafting - A new Door Sign & Headband Holder

I don't know what has gotten into me lately.  I think it is the 'nesting', that is making me want to get all organized and get things finished.

Front Door Decor:
I made this 'D' for our front door.

I bought the supplies for this item probably a year ago.  I got the idea from Pinterest, with the following picture.

It did not go as easily as I had hoped and if I ever had to do it again, I would use normal burlap, not twine.  I would work on it for an hour or two and then get sick of it and quit for a couple months.  The main issue is that the letter 'D' requires the twine to put through the hole, over and over again, rather than just wrapping it.  Also, because of the way this letter was, I had to use a lot of hot glue to get it to stay in place.  I do like how it turned out though.  It is not currently on the door as I have an Easter sign up, but I plan to use it during times when I don't have holiday/seasonal decor.

Headband Holder:
I made myself finish the project above before starting on a new project, but then I was able to quickly finish my next project which I had also purchased the items for a long time ago and just never gotten around to completing.  I made this headband holder for the girls.

It is about 2 feet long, with the middle ribbon being sewn every 2 1/2 inches per 4 inches of ribbon.  I like how it turned out and it is already completely full.  It is great to have the headbands out of the drawer where they were taking up a lot of space and making it hard to find other things.

This is the image from Pinterest that gave me the idea.

I hope this motivation to work through my project list continues.

Father's Day Weekend

The day before Father's Day, was our church's annual 'Amazing Race.'  Kyle's team won a couple of years and  . . . . (drumroll) . . . . . my team won this year!  We had a lot of fun.  Kyle's team came in 4th, I think, so pretty solid out of 12 teams of 4.  There were 12 or 13 stops and tasks, which took about 3 hours; it is quite an adventure.  (Sorry, no pics, I was too busy running.)

Sunday was Father's Day.  I made a couple of things for Kyle.  He enjoys laying on the floor to play with the kids, so I made him a shirt with a car track on the back and included a few matchbox cars for the girls.  I also made a candy jar with Reese's Pieces (why he really likes).  He also got a new season of 'The Office.'

The label printed a little big, but I had someone else print it for me, so I couldn't fix it in time.  I got the idea from pinterest from http://kids-clutter-and-chaos.blogspot.com/2012/06/fathers-day-love-you-to-pieces.html?m=1.

Another Pinterest idea from http://thebluebasket.blogspot.com/2011/09/tutorial-car-shirt.html#more.

After church we went to my parents for lunch.  Then we headed home to finish some packing and we were off to San Diego for a week of vacation.  (Check back soon for vacation posts.)

The curtains are done!

I finally finished my project!  I only had the material for about 9 months.  The nursery has never had curtains, although I always had good intentions.  The thing that really threw me was the top window, which as an arc, and I was having a difficult time trying to decide what to do with it.  The bedding in the room has pinwheels and I found the perfect window curtains that are the same blue and brown with pinwheels.  There are also pink pinwheels to make the room a little more girlie.