Story Time Craft: Sharks

This is what we were working on the library when the storm came through and knocked the power out. Katelyn got a shark book, and got to build her own aquarium!

Royalty in the house!

Bored! So we made a princess crown.

 

 

(FYI: Katelyn made me take a picture f myself. She even told me 'Eees, Eeees!)

And the wind Blew...

 

 

Dinner Time Video

Danville

Caught up on the season 2 premiere of TNT's Perception, and the criminal being evaluated was born in "Danville, IL"....uh-oh...I think the writers found the Most Dangerous Cities list...Mi Familia- Get out while you can! =P

Grilling Out!

Ok, so yes, we like Hell's Kitchen.

If you do to, then you've seen the whole Mary and her tongue hanging out thing...

 

 

Here's Chris's impression.
She got our vote!

 

(He's making super delicious Cilantro Chili Chicken Skewers)

 

 

2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs or breast meat

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, mince

3/4 bunch fresh cilantro (save remaining for garnish)

1 teaspoon salt & pepper

Sweet chili sauce for basting

Soak skewers in water for at least 20 minutes to prevent burning.

Cut chicken into 1" cubes and place into bowl.  Add olive oil, garlic and cilantro in a food processor and pulverize. Pour the marinade into the bowl with the chicken, add teaspoon of salt and pepper and marinate overnight if possible.

 

Preheat the grill to medium heat and coat with oil. Remove chicken from the refrigerator and put 5-6 pieces of chicken on each skewer.  Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. Brush chili sauce on chicken just before done cooking to create a nice glaze.

Show Time!

I had so much fun last night attending the Stage-It show with Adley Stump.

 

She was on season 2 of The Voice

(Sorry, I only watch the blind auditions...

so I have no clue how far she actually went on the show.)

 

 The show was great, her singing was great. Loved it.

 

Ready for the next show.  

Sandbox!

Loving it!!!!!

 

The store actually had these sandboxes in 2 different places.

Inside they were labeled 69.99 on sale for 49.99 with a $10 Mail-in-Rebate.

Outside they were tagged 69.99 on sale for $29.99....Score!

Back to...The Moffatts...?

I'm not even going to pretend I wasn't totally in love with The Moffatts. If there was a precursor to my *NSYNC obsession- those fiery obsession skills seriously started with this group. I still remember my mom calling me in to the living room to watch them for the first time, and after that she bought me the CD, oh man! There was no boredom for me as long it was playing- I was dancing and singing (terribly)...and it was always playing. Every song on that album was utterly amazing, and even now, it's an impossible task to choose a favorite song to share on here...I had to snatch them all! (Well, I thought 5 was sufficient!)

Ok, so why a random walk down Moffatt memory lane? Because I've recently (within the last couple months) been introduced to Stage It, and while shuffling through artists shows I saw Scott Andrew Moffatt in X days, and now all I want to do is the Caterpillar Crawl. 

If I remember I'll check out his show!

Family Picture w/ Victoria!

 

Story Time Craft: Five/Ten Little Monkeys

 

Library Story Time was all about counting books.

Five Little Ducks

Five Little Kittens

Five Sea Shells

and

Ten Little Monkeys

 

The craft was making your own "Monkeys on the Bed" picture.

This would be super easy to do at home, too. The images including a bed, monkeys, and bananas were 'rough' cut, and the children just glued them on the construction paper, and then colored the paper with crayons.

Boo...Sad...

Oh, this dreaded day always seem to come much too fast.

 

Bye Victoria!!

 

We love you, and we'll see you soon!

Yikes!

Have you seen the price of...CORN!!!

Chef Katelyn/Park Videos

Since I posted this one on FB, I have two!

Chicago * Cubs Game

 

It was soo cold, and we didn't even get to sing "Go Cubs Go!"

...But we had loads of fun!

 

It was amazing getting to spend time with Victoria's family this week, and now we can't wait to take a magical journey across Brasil to visit our growing family there!

Weekly Craft - Wind Sock

Katelyn was too cute at Story Time on Friday!

 

The Audubon Society was there to teach the children about dinosaurs, and they had these cut-outs to pass around during the story, and Katelyn was one of the few that didn't get a chance to hold one.

 

Before starting the craft one the ladies asked if all the children got to hold a dinosaur. Katelyn understood exactly what she was asking- all on her own she stood up, held her hands in the air, and brought the dinosaur to sit on my lap. I took a picture, she said 'rrr' and without any prompting from me she got up, and handed it back to the lady.  

*******
The wind-sock was a lot of fun to make! (and simple!) We had a bag of tools which included:

1 sheet of construction paper
3 streamers
5 stickers
1 glue stick
1 piece of yarn (about 6-8 inches)

You'll also need a couple pieces of tape, a hole punch, and a stapler.

TO MAKE:

Decorate one side of the construction paper with stickers and drawings, staying an inch or so away from the side edges.

Glue/Tape the streamers in equal spacing across the bottom of the opposite side of the construction paper.

Bring edged together making a cylinder shape, and staple in the middle and at each end.

Put two holes across from each other near the top of the wind sock, and tie string through on both sides.

As Katelyn has learned to say --- Ta-da!

Ring My Bell!!!

My Green Bell! Ha! Ha!

First one - with more on the way!

Update....

 Oh, yeah!

 

Berry Pickin' Good

Seven Pounds on Saturday. Five pounds on Tuesday.

Up Early....

To make Homemade Laundry Detergent.

 

Obviously not early enough to finish the task before Katelyn woke up. =P

Turns out...she was a huge help when I overfilled one of the jugs.

 

She was going for the cleaning rags before I even realized just how big my mess was, and she pretty much cleaned every bit of it up herself.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day at Indiana Beach with Grandma, Rachel, and Ashley.

 

Katelyn's Gifts:

 

Mommy's Gift:

 

 

Indiana Beach Visit 2

We actually camped out near the park, but the camera died shortly after we got to the park....this is all we got...

 

So glad we bought season passes! Katelyn LOVES the park, and knows which rides she loves....hm... that'd be all of them.

Naner, Naner

Pepper - that is! Can't wait to eat this little guy. It's been slow growing, but finally!

Kite Time

 

It was a perfect day for flying a kite last week! Katelyn absolutely loved, loved, loved her kite.

Playdate Group

Finally took the step I was waiting on someone else to take and started a play group page on Facebook. We had our first 'get together' today. It was fun at the park!

MMM....

Katelyn eating her yummy frozen yogurt bites!

I just put the yogurt in a baggie, cut off the corner, dotted the yogurt on some wax paper and froze.

She loves them!

Two Cool Craft/Games

Haven't posted a craft in too long! These are both craft/games we've put together.

 

The First: Music Shaker

 

This one was fun to make. It is 2 small paper plates, some tissue paper, stickers, glue stick, popcorn and staples.

 

The one we made here represents the ocean! Katelyn took her time dragging a glue stick all across the bottom of the plates, and then she stuck the colored tissue on the glue, and decorated the "water" with stickers. She did this on both sides.

 

Then she put two handfuls of popcorn kernels on one of the plates, covered with the other, and then  stapled them together...WaaaaLaaaa - She has a music maker. (Which she wouldn't leave at home and had to shake through most of an hour long trip to the grocery last week.)

This week's craft was a bit messy on our skin, but eh...it was alright.

 

At tumbling we played this clothes pin drop game that she seemed to enjoy a bit. So...I was thinking of something to do this morning and this is what we got. I dug up the markers and clothes pins and she spent some time coloring them with me, and after a little time to dry, she stood on the step stool and tried dropping them into the box. I guess it was kind of educational too since we counted how many she made.

 

 

Parachute Time!

Ok, so they don't look like they are having very much fun, but the kiddos love this parachute thing for the first few minutes every time it is out. And, yes....My daughter is the official screamer of the bunch.