Elephants and Ice Cream

My kiddos make me laugh, they say the funniest things. Here are some of my favorites.

Natalie, David and I had ice cream one afternoon and Natalie wanted to try my flavor. I asked if she liked it and she said, "It's as good as a full elephant!" Wow I guess that she really liked it.

Today I was helping David with his homework and he said, "Uh oh my homework is stampled." Stampled?

Natalie, David and I were once having a serious discussion about death and loved ones. They asked me about how my grandma died and Natalie chimed in "Did she drink the bath water?" David and I cracked up!

The kids and I had played at the park in my Mom's neighborhood and it started to rain so we headed to have some ice cream. My Mom asked them all what their favorite flavor was and Natalie said, "Shrimp, rice and vegetables."

One afternoon Natalie asked me why we locked the door to the house. I explained to her why and she said, "Let's lock the door so they don't steal my princess wand, it talks and everything!" I'm sure if robbers came they would go straight for the princess wand, not the flat screen.

I even have a blunder! This summer we have been working on table manners and I said, "Chew your mouth when you close!" That sounds painful. We have laughed about this for a long time.

Natalie and I went to see my Mom one afternoon and she asked, "Is your Dad at home? Can you put 'em between your toes?" What?

Other Quotes:

Natalie- "That's an American Fire Truck."

David- "Stop your horses!"

Natalie- "These are my bee-noculars."

David- "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Natalie- "I want to get my ears peered."

David- "I'm going to marry you."

Natalie- "Will you be my friend forever?"

Natalie- "Where are my Mardigroft beads?"

These are just some of the ones I wrote down or remember!

Great Weekend!!

I had a fabulous and full weekend!

Friday night I went to Sabor Latino for Jenn's birthday dinner. I had some paella, a mojito and got to spend a night with friends I hadn't seen in awile. Then we headed to Lancer Lounge and danced and celebrated Jenn's birthday. It was a fun night with great friends.

On Saturday I went to my friend Shauna's wedding. Shauna and I went to CU and were in the same sorority, Alpha Phi. It was so fascinating hearing about all of the traditions of a Jewish wedding. I learned about the Ketubah, Chuppah, and why they break the glass at the end of the ceremony. It was also fun to reconnect with other Alpha Phi's and friends at the wedding. Great to see you Sara, Melissa and Julie!!

Today I went to the picnic in my parents neighborhood. It was so much fun to see my parents, neighbors and be in the sun. My family I nanny for came and they met my parents for the first time. There was a face painter, balloon artist and band at the picnic.


Natalie got a unicorn painted on her face!

This didn't last very long and that is why I got a picture right away.

Gillian got a goldfish.


Great picture of Gillian.


After the long hot day at the picnic Mom and I went to see Mama Mia. It was such a fantasic movie and a perfect one to see with my Momma. I would definetly want to see it again.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

This is Natalie a year ago on her first day of preschool. She adored this little dress and wore until we literally hid it from her because it was so small. I can not believe how she has changed since these were taken.

She loved these sunglasses so she insisted that I take one with them too... She wouldn't even stand still enough for me to get her in the center of picture.

I took this picture today before we left for her first day. Now she likes to pose and will stay still and take direction!

I love this picture too! She is so cute and I love the little pig tails.

Natalie's new tote bag.

I can't believe how big my girl has gotten!

Gillian's Crafts

Gillian has many talents and drawing and making crafts are just two of them...

"A Mexican Cowboy"

A Portrait of Natalie



Self-Portrait

A glittery mask

A doll made out of corn husk

The Sleepover

Last night we had our First Annual (hopefully) Sleepover in our Fort. At the beginning of this summer Gillian and I engineered FORT GEM in their basement. I know you may be thinking of a meager fort, but it is pretty major. Our fort has an outer wall and two inner walls. We have three rooms in our fort. The first is the playroom, we color, draw and play in there. The second room is our bedroom and the location of our sleepover. It is plenty big enough for us all to sleep comfortably. The third room is our meeting room, we obviously have meetings in there and we discuss Gemton (our town) issues. The fort has been wonderful during all those long hot days this summer.

The night started out great! We had pizza for dinner, our favorite. Then we watched Nim's Island and had popcorn, another big fave! We rounded out the evening with sundaes and headed downstairs to go to bed. We didn't even get to sleep til around 11pm, or at least they did. I was up on and off all night....I thought the night would never end! Finally morning came and we had doughnuts for breakfast! We had to have all the traditional sleepover items that i told them about from when I was little.

Natalie and David snuggling.

Looks like somebody is tired!

Natalie pouting...about something.

My buddies

My sleeping bag was a hit! Since it's a mummy bag...we took pictures of all three but David kept bumping me so only his turned out. I think it was a conspiracy. So here he is, or at least part of him.

Holding up the sign Gillian made.

GASP! David is punching Gillian in the head!

David, Gillian and Natalie hamming it up!

The night turned out great...I hope we can do it again next year!

Denver Puppet Theater

Natalie, David and I went to the Denver Puppet Theater on Friday. The puppet show was great it is put on by one woman who does all the characters and each has a different accent and manner of speaking. I was quite mezmerized listening and watching the show. The show we saw was "A Dragon Tale." The kids liked and so did I. What I liked best was that our ticket was a puppet. We got there when the doors opened (30 minutes early) and I'm glad we did because we had lots of time to make our puppets.

This is Natalie's puppet that she made and she named it...."Natalie". That's a shocker.

This is the puppet made by David he calls it "Bald Head Dude", rightly named I think.

This is my puppet I made, her name is "Mama Mia." The kids named her that and think that she is quite funny. We like to wave her around and make her bow floppy. I made mine in about five minutes...I felt rushed because I was the only adult making a puppet for myself in a room of 30 children. I feel she looks fabulous considering the time crunch.

No matter what show is playing I recommend going to the puppet theater...it was so much fun!

The Secret Garden

Gillian, Natalie and I discovered this "Secret Garden" while searching for a playground. We were trying to waste some time before we had to pick up David from a party. I whipped out my camera and took a few pictures of them. We had so much fun in this little garden.

Use What You Have...

I made this after I got back from Waco. I figured after all that craziness with the sewing machine, I could do this. I hand sewed this for Natalie with fabric Gillian wasn't using and some left over buttons and ribbon. It turned out great, not guaranteed to last forever, but definitely cute! She loves it and that makes the day it took to make it worth it!

My new purse

I recently made this when I was visiting cousins in Waco, TX. Bree went to the fabric store to get fabric for a project and I decided I wanted to make something too. So I decided to go basic, so I thought. I, with TONS of help, made this purse. I thought it was going to be easy, not really. I spent a great deal of time with Vicki and Bree planning it out. I put a pocket in, a must for me and a lining. I thought if I whipped out a purse then maybe I could make a dress for Natalie next. Sewing is something I've always wanted to be good at, and something I would definitely try again with supervision. ;)

Seasons

Gillian and I call our phases "Seasons." We definitely go through phases of what we like to make and we are always looking for something new. Right now we are in jewelry making season, it has been a great week.

Frame season has recently ended, I made this one for Anna-Jane my little princess. She is my cousin Bree's 9 month-old daughter and she is so adorable! I recently got to spend a week with Vicki, Robin, Bree, Anna-Jane and my mom. I love the girls week or weekends we have whenever we can. It is so much fun.
Frame season started around Father's Day when Gillian was making a great sign for her dad. Then we discovered that wood frames were only $1!! I found these sunglasses and thought that would be cute.

All Wrapped Up In....

I'm all wrapped up in many things, sometimes I feel trapped in a creative Schizophrenic body. I'm trying to start a new business selling jewelry that I make, I'm getting close. I guess its taken so much time I want the launch to be just right.

I'm also a nanny who hangs out all day with three kids and Gillian the 9 year-old is also creativly driven. She and I are a great team and we love being crafty together. We bounce ideas off each other and have so much fun making all sorts of crafts. The greatest compliment we give each other is "That looks like you bought it at the store!" I love it! I just happen to find it really distracting when I'm trying to concentrate on working on my business. This week I wised up and brought my jewelry making supplies to work. I was extremely productive and made a lot of items to sell. The girls loved it and I'm working for my new business and having fun with them at the same time. Natalie who is 4 is the girliest girl I've ever met has been helping me pick out colors and loves touching everything.

Since I brought all my supplies to work Gillian has become my assistant. She wants to make all the jewelry for girls her age or younger. She is so excited and has really gotten into it. I have three items to sell made by her and I have enjoyed seeing her excited about her creations.