tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61577781688370326662024-03-18T20:56:35.610-06:00How Does My Garden Grow?marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-5303396839705273812014-04-17T14:21:00.000-06:002014-04-17T14:21:13.024-06:00Goldfish Cracker Carrot Snack Bags for Easter
I've seen these carrot-shaped treats done before, filled with orange jelly beans or orange M&Ms, etc., but I wanted at least one non-candy snack for the kids' Easter baskets and thought of using goldfish crackers. Just a fill a cone shaped cello bag. I made some washi tape twist ties to close them up, but anything green would do.
marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-79467171224362716772014-02-14T11:40:00.000-07:002014-02-14T11:40:16.016-07:00Ellen's Valentines, 2014 Edition
We had a bunch of these stretchy bracelets in our party favor box:
So I printed out some little cards with a picture of Ellen dressed in a princess costume, cut slits in the side, and she put the bracelets onto the cards like a necklace:
(I made these in a rush, so I didn't notice that the font I chose apparently didn't come with punctuation marks until after they were printed. I marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-90440479985306445872014-02-14T11:12:00.002-07:002014-02-14T11:12:51.622-07:00One Dollar Valentine's Day Garland
1. Buy a pack of heart doilies from the dollar store.
2. Stitch them together on a sewing machine, leaving long threads on both ends for hanging.
3. Hang it up.
My pack had 20 6 inch wide hearts, so it made a 10 foot long garland.marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-4550187640182158872014-02-13T12:51:00.003-07:002014-02-13T12:51:54.007-07:00In Case You Were Wondering If She Likes Her Little Sister
I was taking pictures of Ellen and she was giving me that pained camera smile:
So I said, "Show me how you feel about Baby Kate":
(Oh yeah, by the way, we had a baby. Her name is Kate.)marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-88706918634944579282014-02-12T12:48:00.001-07:002014-02-12T13:06:32.197-07:00Adam's 2013 Jedi Valentines Recap
Never got around to posting these last year, but these are the valentines Adam gave out in 2013, our take on the glow stick light saber valentines we've seen around the Internet. Took a picture of him against a white background wearing his jedi robe and holding his lightsaber hilt and added some text. We cut a slit for a glow stick which we slipped in and taped onto the back.
We got the star marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-43123220544984106792013-04-17T23:41:00.002-06:002013-04-22T13:06:13.521-06:00Once Upon A Time There Was a Road Trip to Lake Pend Oreille
Alternate Title: So Long, With So Many Photos, Only The Grandmas Will Read the Whole Thing
My dad's wife Helen has a little house on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille in the Idaho panhandle, and last July when I found out my sister Susanna was heading up there with her kids and my brother Andy and his wife Christina, I finagled an invitation for myself and the kids to tag along. We'd been marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18382571077565577764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-43219915432435391622012-10-31T12:51:00.001-06:002012-10-31T12:51:39.922-06:00Halloween 2012: Jane as Flapper
Good gracious -- my 11 year old is getting to be waaaaay too grown-up looking.
Wish I had taken a "before" picture of the ugly jumper and jacket set from Saver's we cut down to make her dress.
marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-85669841516586639502012-10-26T18:57:00.001-06:002012-10-26T21:10:59.628-06:00First Snow of the Season
Ellen (literally) made a new friend. Meet Emma, the Snow Girl:
Ellen says that Emma is Charlie's big sister. Here's Ellen with Charlie, a snow friend she made last January:
The Making of Charlie, January 2012:
marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-18814412358064273832012-10-22T08:30:00.001-06:002012-10-22T08:34:54.855-06:00Crazy Hair DayWe've felt deprived for years, but this year our school had a crazy hair day!
Zuzu:
Adam:
Ellen:
marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18382571077565577764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-88927516184929491312012-06-11T13:13:00.000-06:002012-06-11T13:25:34.299-06:00Delicious Vegetables and an Entrepreneurial Venture
One day, walking into the store with Ellen, I had a flash of inspiration.
Me: "You can choose any vegetable you want, and I will buy it for you."
Ellen: "Any one I want?! Yay, yay, yay! I want broccoli! Broccoli! Broccoli! Broccoli! Yay, I love broccoli!"
(I know this wouldn't work with every kid. It's some fluke of crazy luck that it worked so well with mine.)
Today I remembered my little marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-89659149452636431632012-03-12T22:49:00.001-06:002012-03-15T09:58:09.358-06:00Sunday Afternoon Phone Camera ScenesAh, Lazy Sunday Afternoon, how I love thee.
Why hello, hot stuff.
Feel free to serenade me.
Oh, OK, OK. Yes, I'll stop taking pictures of your daddy and take one of you.
Yes, OK, one of US, then.
OK, OK. Yes, I'll pretend to bite your leg again, and yes, I'll take a picture of it, if you insist.
I am, after all, nothing but a camera slave to a six year old.
marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-39897572534463135442012-02-26T22:13:00.003-07:002012-02-27T08:04:28.083-07:00Need Advice on Choosing a Spouse? Adam's Here to Help.
After Adam had been enthusiastically belting out variations of this original song for 45 minutes or so, Peter decided it should be documented. Adam was not dissuaded from his choice of lyrics by any of our comments about whether the song's advice was legal, possible ("if you're your mother" ?), or sound, but at least he did choose to title it "Bad Advice of Love."
marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-46163015215331504012012-02-14T19:23:00.000-07:002012-02-14T19:23:05.423-07:002012 ValentinesThis year Zuzu brought home the cardboard box her teacher had given out to decorate and said, "I want to make mine a yellow submarine."
Well, OK then.
I love how she pulls these ideas out of the air, like her circus tent box a couple of years ago.
The design was hers and I helped her build what she wanted. One of the things she explained was that she wanted it to have a top "hatchet" for marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-30915593330758108632012-02-14T16:25:00.002-07:002012-02-14T16:26:56.118-07:00Ah, Young LoveJane brought this home from school.
Front:
Back:
She said, "Oh, yeah. That's from the boy in my class who likes me."
I wonder if he has a sister or if he had to go far out of his way to obtain the puppy-with-purple-fairy-wings valentine that was the perfect counterpoint to his message.marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-9053997741707554142011-12-18T23:09:00.000-07:002011-12-18T23:28:45.668-07:00Adam Finds the Bright Side of a Hypothetical Tragedy, Plus Other Recent Kid Stuff
-Tonight on our drive home from grandpa's house (which, coincidentally, really is over the river and through the woods), Adam said, "Dad, if we get in a car crash -- I'm saying if we get in a car crash, I'm not saying I want us to -- I'm just saying, if we get in a car crash, can we put it on mama's blog?"
-Yesterday Peter wore his shirt of tandem-cycling Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, so there marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-41976857794687233302011-11-26T22:59:00.000-07:002011-11-26T23:42:33.418-07:00Advent Calendar for Grandma Kathe
We made an advent calendar to send to Grandma Kathe.
I had Jane and Zuzu create the artwork.
I think the everyone-facing-forward-and-floating-in-space technique came about because I recently had them draw and paint a whole set of nativity blocks and, being burned out on the art-slave gig, they just redrew on the fabric the figures they drew for the blocks. Despite the unfortunate effect marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-11201094158216281502011-10-31T23:12:00.000-06:002011-11-01T10:53:17.307-06:00Halloween Costumes 2011
The group front porch shot seems to have become an annual tradition.
Cookie Monster is one of Aunt Suzy's famed masterpieces and Jane was excited to be the right size to borrow it this year:
With her twin pumpkin:
When Zuzu's Primary (like Sunday School) teacher at church -- we'll call her Michelle, since, uh, that is her name -- brought a traditional Indian outfit to marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-67099019503260758372011-05-21T20:53:00.000-06:002011-05-21T20:53:06.934-06:00Some Kind of HypocriteOK, after my comments about black and orange in my last post, I had to laugh when I clicked through to see it on the blog and saw . . .
my blog header.marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-84268691284368710252011-05-21T20:41:00.004-06:002011-05-21T20:56:35.729-06:00Commissioned PieceJane was of the opinion that she needed a Camp Half-Blood shirt, à la Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I said I'd make her one because I've been wanting to try cutting a freezer paper stencil with my Cricut electronic cutter ever since I got it for Christmas. Also because I pretty much do whatever Jane tells me. Like last month when she said, "I need you to come to school tomorrow at 11:00 to marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-74116515498811576992011-05-12T10:53:00.000-06:002011-05-13T14:35:14.883-06:00If Your Room is Always Clean, I'm Jealous of YouJust now when I was picking laundry off the floor of my girls' chronically disheveled room, mentally giving the lecture about how their room could be clean all the time if they would simply put each thing back where it goes instead of dropping it on the floor, I had a sudden flashback that made me chuckle.
I was at an overnight birthday party of a newish girl in our neighborhood. Her mother marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-47833345369849226662011-04-20T22:34:00.001-06:002011-04-20T22:37:58.963-06:00Guest Post: Spring BreakWe went back and forth quite a bit this year on what we should do with the kids' Spring Break. It was a tough choice between the family ski trip to France and a week in St George. In the end, St George won out, so we packed our things for a
We drove down on Monday, played at "the twirly park" and settled in while the kids played in the pool.
If it had been up to the kids, they would have played marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18382571077565577764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-2506132134136963352011-04-06T22:23:00.007-06:002011-04-06T22:30:16.816-06:00She Is DelightfulWhen Jane and I got in the car to run an errand tonight, some very odd techno/classical/jazz (?) was on the radio. I tuned it to the classical station. Jane said, "We could turn the radio off and listen to the beautiful music of [makes her two hands into little mouths facing each other] . . . chit-chat!"
On the way home, she said, "Mom, tell me the funniest thing I don't marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-87448052696730935922011-04-01T14:42:00.000-06:002011-04-01T14:42:12.755-06:00OedipalAdam loves to cuddle and snuggle with me, and his affectionate embraces are usually accompanied by his original expression, delivered in baby-talk accent, "No more den love." I've asked him what exactly "no more than love" means, and he says, "It means I love you more than anyone."
"More than you love anyone else or more than anyone else loves me?"
"It means both."
My brother and his girlfriendmarymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-54432423633005831122011-03-28T16:03:00.001-06:002011-03-28T16:04:59.364-06:00Bounty HuntersAdam: Can I use the web site?
Me: The web site?
Adam: Yeah. I need to show my friend what bounty hunter he's being. We're playing Star Wars. Can you type in "Star Wars guys with white helmets?"
marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08348610804363906463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6157778168837032666.post-77131231561941885902011-03-28T12:43:00.002-06:002011-03-28T12:52:30.758-06:00Better Living Through TechnologyWe're getting ready for a road trip that will require two days of driving each way. Our kids have been remarkable car travelers so far, but I'm scared we might be pushing our luck with this one. Although I have some snacks, activities, and media options planned, any advice will be appreciated.
So far today I:
Booked the hotel room. (A suite with two separate bedrooms! Suite!)
Started a packing marymaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18382571077565577764noreply@blogger.com3