Easter Baskets

 I mentioned before that I participated in an Easter craft swap over at This Cosy Life.  It was great fun!  I made knitted wool eggs and peg gnomeys.  When I went to take pictures, my batteries died after one shot.  So this pretty crummy shot is all I have!

 In return, I got a great stash of handmade creations.  They were used to fill the Easter "baskets" for the kids.

 Actually, in lieu of baskets this year, I used potted plants.  It was a fantastic comprimise!  I despise Easter grass, so I have been trying to come up with a viable alternative.

 I love the idea of growing pots of real grass, but I seriously lack the organization and forethought to make something like that a reality.

 Pretty purple potted pansies was the perfect solution!  I think this will be out new tradition.  The kids loved getting their very own flowers.  It was so fun and sweet to tuck gnomes and felt eggs under the flower leaves!

 Of course, when you pot them at 10:30 the night before, some kids get coffee cans or plastic cups instead of really pots!  Hopefully next year I'll do a better job!

 The kids looked lovely at Mass.  The girls wore their dresses from my brother in laws wedding last spring.  Thankfully, Christopher served Mass and it didn't matter so much when we discovered that his dress shirt was way too small . . . about 15 minutes before he had to be at the church.

 After Mass, we headed to my parent's for food and an egg hunt.  The cousins all had fun romping around in search of eggs!

Easter was also Izzy's fourth birthday!  Grace made special ice cream sundaes for everyone to celebrate.

Seven Quick Takes

I.
Where did the week go?  I kept thinking I'd pop in to update, but here it is Friday again already!  We had a great Trinity of Lenten Respite between St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day.


(Fantastic diaper courtesy of Annie, fantastic bum courtesy of Avila)

St. Paddy's day was quiet, as Grace spent the night at a friends and the boys were at a Super Cross event.  But St. Joseph's Day more than made up for it with a neighborhood brawl and police showing up, literally, in our back yard.

II.
Celtic Woman is THIS WEEKEND!!!  I am SO excited!!!
III.

Blooms are popping up everywhere.  These in particular made me smile.  I got the bulbs from my aunt years ago and I believe they are from my grandparents farm.  I have seen bits of green each year, but this is the first time they have flowered!

IV.
The beautiful weather spurred me to take this kids to the neighborhood park the other day.  It is right next to the YWCA, where the local director of Planned Parenthood was giving a talk.  I about died laughing when I saw THREE different friends going in to covertly gather information.

V.

Cute little girls interrupting a photo shoot.  But who could resist? 

VI.

We have been in the slooooow process of reorganizing our upstairs.  The plan is to move the majority of clothing out of the kids rooms and into a storage system in the laundry room.  I am hoping this effort will force me to cut down seriously on the amount of clothing everyone has as well as cutting down on the messes in the kids rooms.
When I saw a "cedar wardrobe" (which, it turns out, meant particleboard with a cedar veneer) on facebook at the local supply and surplus store, I jumped at the chance to get it.  My husband may divorce me now.  (Actually, he was quite cheerful about it.)
It only weighs roughly seven tons, but he and I manhandled it up the stairs (it only took an hour!).  Visions of death-by-wardrobe may haunt me forever.
And then we got to the top of the stairs and the $@%! thing fell apart!
Sweet Andrew patiently put it back together for me.
And soon it will happily house the kids clothing.  We did have to tell them to NOT climb inside looking for Narnia.

VII.

I am still working away on the eggs for the Easter Swap over at This Cosy Life.  I finally got the pattern figured out so that not only do they look like eggs, but they open to tuck in a toy of bit of candy as well. I *may* attempt to write up the pattern and share it here.  I have never written a pattern before, so we'll see.  Sometimes I craft like a cook - a little of this and a little of that.  If nothing else, I'll share pics soon.

For more quick takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary!

Seven Quick Takes

I.

Yesterday, our homeschool co-op shirked all education responsibility and capitalized on this fantastic weather we've been having.  We canceled our regular classes and met at Happy Hollow Park instead.  The kids had a wonderful time romping with friends in the sunshine!  Bella insisted that the name of said park is "Happy Halloween Park".  She's such a goofball!

II.
Tonight is the Pinewood Derby!  I have a couple of very excited boys, ready to race.  I am pretty sure victories aren't in our future, since they care way more about appearance than speed!  PeterXavier made his look like a mouse, complete with wavy tail and Christopher's is a stylin' silver with gold stripes.

III.
Bella's been on a roll lately with saying silly things.  Last night we had a impromptu visit with friends down the street and her friend Helen was running around without a shirt on.  (Oh happy 80* weather in March!).  Later, Bella commented on her shirtlessness saying, "I bet Helen wanted to wear shirt, but it was probably in the wash-ish-a-sheen."  I'm not sure which is funnier - her pronunciation of washing machine or her assumption that Helen only has one shirt!

IV.

Grace, many moons ago!

Grace is very excited to have been invited to her very first over night at a friends house this weekend!  I can't believe she's ready and willing, as she is usually so shy.  I've been happy to see both her and Christopher grow to be so independent and confident.  When they were both really small (and my only kiddos), I caught a great deal of flack for indulging their attachment to me and not letting them "cry it out" either at night or to be left with other adults.  It's nice to see the all the Attachment Parenting talk that attached young children grow to be more independent bigger children might actually be true!

V.
On that same note, it's interesting that when you have more kids than the average joe, people stop giving you unsolicited parenting advise.  (They may give you other unsolicited advise, but let's just take what we can get here!)

VI.

Last night, we were driving around and passed a McDonald's with a playplace.  Bella commented on how fun it looked.  This set Grace off on a tangent about the horrors of McD food.  I was cracking up in the front seat as she described nuggets as "crushed bones, food coloring, and poison!"  Once she stepped down from her little soapbox, PX piped up "Well it tastes good to me!!"

VII.

My main agenda today is to knit an insane number of wool eggs.  I am participating in an Easter craft swap, hosted over at This Cosy Life.  I am a bit behind and more than a bit intimidated by the craftiness of the other ladies!  Yikes!  I'll share my finished product before I ship them out.

Happy Weekending!  For more quick takes, visit Jen.

Children, Children Everywhere

My brother and his family are visiting this weekend.  Ben has four girls, which brings the total number of children to nine.  This is a large number in and of itself, but add to that the fact that the oldest child is only nine and you have yourself a veritable circus!  (The exact breakdown, for the overly curious, is 9,9,8,6,5,4,3,1.5,1)

Thankfully, God has blessed us with warm weather and sunshine, so the kids have spent a good deal of time outside.  The other wonderful aspect of this little adventure is that the kids get along marvelously!

 .

Even the two youngest, Avila and Ronia, get along!  They love playing in the sink together.

There was a time when Grace and Angelica didn't get along at all.  But now, they love each other and spent hours turning the jungle gym into a magical fairy house.

Track Meet

The kids took part in a track meet this weekend with the Purdue Track Club.  They had a great time and all did very well.  Even Bella got to run the hurdles, although even the tiny ones were too high for her to jump!  She would run up to it, stop, step over, and then take off running again!

Christopher joyfully leaped over each hurdle, while Grace plowed through with gritted determination.

The most exciting part of the day was when BOTH boys took blue ribbons in their class for the "TurboJav", which was like throwing the javelin.  PeterXavier almost took off my head with his powerful shot!  But when he got first place for it, I forgave him!

Hey Girl (playing along)

Too funny not to play along!  Check out many more here.  They're fantastically funny!

Chef PX

PeterXavier has a love for all things kitchen related.  Be it eating the food or making it.  Lately, he has been making the other kids lunch a few times a week.  The other day, he even brought me a quesadilla!  

He was quite proud of the lovely yolk in this egg.

The girls are enjoying eating his little masterpieces!

Winner!!

The giveaway winner is . . . .

Alison!  

 Alison Troyer Price said...

Sarah, I liked That's a Wrap on FB

Thanks for playing, everyone!  

Seven Quick Takes

I

Not long ago, my sister wrote about savoring the quiet days at home with her little girls.  I absolutely know what she's talking about.  Except I'm half way on the other side.  I swear I used to have a nine year old boy around here, but I am starting to forget what he looks like . . . . yep, life gets busy.

II.

It's ill-advised to promise your kids a yummy treat without first checking to be certain your pantry holds all of the needed ingredients.  But necessity is the mother of invention, right?  Did you know that you can make make powdered sugar in your coffee grinder?  Yeppers.  Just grind up your regular sugar and add a bit of cornstarch.  Not quiet the really thing, but it will do in a pinch!

III.

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IV

Quick Take Three, courtesy of Avila.  She's into everything these days.  And talking a bit.  She says "'Ol' me! 'ol' me!" and makes this weird milking-a-cow gesture at me when she wants to nurse.

It's not doing much for my self-image.

 Double-fisted chocolate delight.

V.

I had a revelation the other day as to why PeterXavier is still not reading.  He's only 5 1/2, so I am certainly not concerned.  It's just that he so wants to be able.  Then I realized that the basic premise of reading is learning, applying, and following rules.  Well, shoot.  He may never learn!  "Rule Following" isn't in his make up.  I may have to take a different approach with this one!

(Sort of like his Uncle John who, in this picture, is wearing a cowl on his head!)

IV.

I'm hosting a giveaway!  Don't forget to enter to win!  It's easy and fun and the gloves are darn cute :)

VII.

Seven's a big number . . . .I'm fresh out of ideas.

Go visit Jen for more quick takes!

Giveaway!

Time for some giveaway fun!  I am really excited about the little "Fingerless Gloves" I have been making.  They have been crazy popular with my kids and now it is fun to see them being a popular item in my Etsy store.

Now it's your turn for a chance at a pair of these fun little accessories!  This giveaway is for one pair of either "bridal pink" or "navy blue" 100% wool fingerless gloves, sized 2-6 years (approximately).  

Here are the rules - you can "earn" an entry a couple different ways.  First, "like" That's A Wrap on Facebook and come back here to let me know.  

Share the giveaway and FB page on your own blog and / or fb and come back to let me know.

Check out That's A Wrap on Etsy and come back to let me know what you love!

Don't forget to come back and COMMENT on what you did, saw, love!

I will pick a winner via random generator on Monday!  Good Luck!

Cute toddlers

This little girl is such a stinker.  She is really developing a little personality and is making the whole family laugh.  Despite the fact that she firmly told me "No!" when I suggested the potty to her, and despite the fact that she flung flour all over my kitchen and then peed on it, I'm still pretty sure she's the cutest toddler girl around!

Yarnin' Along, Again

Wow.  I haven't done a Yarn Along in a while.  Not that I haven't been knitting.  Most of my recent projects were Christmas gifts and, therefore, not bloggable.  But I have picked up the needles again, after a short break from Christmas overload!

I knit these fun fingerless gloves for PeterXavier and was quickly bombarded with requests from the other children.  Thankfully, they're a rather quick knit.  Christopher has a pair as well, now, and Gracie has some on the needles.  They fancy-schmancy hand painted yarn I am using for her's is a bear to work with, so they are slow going.  I can't wait to finish them and be rid of that yarn!

Last night I bought some yummy soft pink Lanaloft to make Bella some gloves.  I can't wait to dig into that yarn.

As for reading, it's all been on my awesome new Kindle Fire.  In the past couple weeks, I have read the first two books on the Hunger Games trilogy.  Without being a spoiler, what's your take on these books?  They seem to beg discussion :)

Don't forget to visit Ginny for more Yarn Alongs!

Kitchens, Little Chefs, and Funny Kids

Apparently, the funniest thing going these days is closing you sister in the "'fridge".  Avila shuts Bella in and shrieks with laughter.

And sweet Bella plays right along, indulging her sister over, and over, and over again.

Chef PeterXavier received a six week cooking course for Christmas.  This evening is his first class and he has been asking since he got up "Is it time yet?".  He dressed himself . . . can you tell?

DIY Extravaganza

My parents got me a Kindle Fire for Christmas and it's pretty much the coolest thing I've ever owned.  But the poor naked little thing needed a cover.  Have you priced those things?  Um, gag.  Wow.  

So I pulled out my scissors, my sewing machine, and my goodwill bag and viola!

Totally awesomely free Kindle cover!

(Sure is cuter than the cloth diaper I was wrapping it in before!)

And speaking of free (and why my goodwill bag runneth over) . . . 

My fantastically organized closet!  Andrew spent a large portion of his Christmas break revamping my seriously disorganized too-messy-for-before-pictures closet into this thing of beauty.

 

He re-purposed a load of old pallets and it is amazing!  As an added bonus of wonderful - it didn't cost a dime!  (Except to the stud finder we had to buy since the kids broke the old one.  Oops)  Love it!

Brotherly Love on Christmas Day

Christmas Ornaments

 This afternoon, we cranked up the Advent music and set to work making Christmas ornaments.  I set out to just do salt dough, but then decided to try cinnamon ornaments and I am so glad I did!

The kitchen smelled fantastic and the ornaments turned out very pretty.

Grace got out her stamp set to decorate her ornaments.  Cute!!

Monday Morning Musings

It's still a little dark outside and, amazingly, my house is quiet.  Most everyone is still sleeping and Avila is snoring on my lap.  She always pops up when I wake up, but generally isn't really ready to be awake.  So today, she chose to sleep on top of me.

We're only a week out from Christmas and, per usual, I feel totally unprepared.  One day, I'll be on my game and get everything finished in July so that I can really savor Advent.  One day.

I was really proud of our ability this year to make about 90% of our gifts.  A few for the kids will be purchased (I can't make books or boots!) and some were bartered from artisans and crafters on etsy.  I was proud, until a read my sister in laws blog and she made ALL of their gifts.  She always beat me :)  But, she's a veritable wonder-woman!

My week will be spent with my knitting needles and and sewing maching finishing up this and that.  Hopefully everything will come together without too many long, late nights! 

Laundermat to the Rescue!

Sometimes life jumps up and attacks you.  You know, like when seven people all try to stagger and drag out wicked cases of the stomach flu.

And then you know what else attacks you?  Large, looming loads of really dirty laundry.

This was my life this past week and while looking back I might be able to find a glimmer of humor in it all, I probably won't.  But I did learn an important lesson - Laundermats are my friend!  Yes, it was a little scuzzy and the clientele was slightly scary, but where else can you get five loads of laundry done AND knit half a hat while drinking a Caramel Brulee Latte all in the comfort of a hard plastic chair and a sticky floor??

Admittedly, the greatness of this little excursion was the act of being productive coupled with an hour of childless quiet (thanks to my hubby!).

But the lesson was still learned - laundermats are great!

(This post is joining the Big Family Friday link up.  Head over for more big family fun!)