Happy New Year's Eve!!

EVERYBODY DANCE!!

By the way, I hope all of you got your pork and sauerkraut for tomorrow's dinner. Pigs don't walk backward you know. :~)

Christmas Craftiness Project #4

Leah's Princess Crown: CHECK

I/my mom/Mike made this Christmas Eve. It's actually one of the last projects I did, but since it came out so cute, I had to share it. Here it is. It's just two pieces of felt put together with stitch witchery. There's fancy gold ribbon sewn around the edges and Velcro sewn on the back to adjust the size as needed. The best part is all the rhinestones glued on. It took a lot of thought and planning to get just the right configuration. I think it was well worth all the time and effort. Fortunately, it didn't take too much time!

By the way, did you notice that Leah's wearing the tutu? Crazy/miraculous/wonderful, I know. She wore it most of Christmas morning. She hasn't put it back on since, but I don't care! YIPPEE!!!

HAHAHA, very funny Santa

For Christmas this year, Eli asked Santa for a beautiful singing voice. He got what he asked for...sort of. Eli has since learned that next time he asks Santa for anything, he needs to be more specific. Take a listen and you'll see what I mean.

In the background, you can hear Noah groaning in disappointment and disgust.

Christmas Craftiness Project #3

Eli's apron: CHECK

I actually finished this on Saturday, but haven't had a chance to show it off until now. Grammy came to town last night, so I've been busy getting every thing ready. Don't worry, Leah hasn't shot her with lightning yet.

It might seem a bit girly to give a boy an apron, but Eli is my big helper when it comes to cooking. I like having him help and I think an apron will make it more exciting to help. Besides that, he needs something to wipe his hands off on other than his pants.

You won't like her when she's angry.

Leah got mad at me and decided to show her true colors.


There, she feels better now, but she's still green. You gotta love heavily dyed holiday cupcakes!

Watch out Grammy!!

My Mom is coming to visit. She's known by my kids as Grammy. Last time she came to visit, Leah didn't like her very much. Leah only did stuff with Grammy when she had something Leah wanted. Hopefully, this visit will go better. I fear for Grammy because Leah recently learned how to shoot lightening from her hand. She does this often and without warning. Here's a picture that I managed to get. Fortunately for me, this was just a warning. I barely managed to survive the encounter. I live to blog another day, but will Grammy? That remains to be seen. So, to Grammy, I say, "Watch out! And make sure you pack clothes made of rubber. I hear those sorts of things do well in a lightening storm."

Christmas Craftiness Project #2

Crayon Cookies: CHECK

Here's a cool stocking stuffer!! Just take the broke crayon pieces that I know all of you have, melt them down, and WHAM, you've got new, fun color-mixy crayons. You're kids will love them. I hope mine do. I was slightly stressed doing this. I thought that I would ruin my cupcake pan. It's the only one I've got. But I didn't!!

Here are the steps:

1. Peel paper off crayons

2. Spray each cupcake spot with cooking spray

3. Arrange crayons however you want, filling up the spots about half way.

4. Put in the oven at about 225 degrees for about 10 min. It really depends on the oven and crayon brand. It took me longer. I think Crayola crayons melted slower than the cheap dollar store kind, but I prefer Crayola. Next time, I'll try to only have that kind. Yeah, that's right. I'm a crayon brand snob!

5. Take it out of the oven and let it cool

6. Pop them out and enjoy. I had to coax mine a bit with a knife, but it wasn't a big deal.

Tips:

~If you can help it, use all the same brand of crayon. Different brands seem to melt at different times. I mixed my brands together and it didn't come out as cool as I wanted, but I tend to be a perfectionist, so honestly, what did I expect? And it still worked!

~Brake the crayons up into smaller pieces that way when you color with them, you can get more colors on the paper at once.

Here's a cool website that has more ideas for what to do with all those broken crayon pieces: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf666289.tip.ht

Huh??

I told Noah a joke today. He didn't think it was funny.


Eli made the same goofy face 30 times in a row. Noah laughed every time.

What's up with that?

Christmas Craftiness Project #1

Leah's Tutu: CHECK

I like to craft. It's no secret. (I don't know why anyone would try to keep something like that a secret.) So, I decided that this year for Christmas, our kids are going to get some hand-made stuff from me. I like doing it. It makes me feel good. It also stresses me out because I tend to leave things to the last minute. Hopefully, I won't do that this year. So far, so good. I've already got one project done, which is probably better than I've done in past years.

Anyway, I thought I would post pictures of the things I make so you guys can leave comments about how totally awesome and super creative I am and how you wish you could make these great crafty things too. So, here's the first installment. (By the way, these are not my own, original ideas. I "borrowed" them from other people) Enjoy!!

No, that is NOT Leah. That is a stuffed dog. I don't know how her measurements compare to the dog, but I just took what I could find to give you a better idea of what it looks like.

This is a pretty simple project, though I don't feel I've mastered it yet. Just take elastic (I used 1/4") and tie strips of tulle on it. I don't know how else to explain it. The hardest part is cutting the tulle. That's some really slippery stuff. You can also add ribbons and bells and all sorts of other cool embellishments (I like that word). Go crazy!!

Hopefully, I'll be able to get a picture of Leah wearing it. I suspect she won't like it when she first gets it, but after a few weeks of it being in her room, she'll decide it's cool and want to try it on. She's like that: VERY FRUSTRATING!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

HELP, HELP!!! The laundry keeps piling up! I just can't fold it all!! Please, someone help me!!!!!!

I need help...

...doing laundry. Any volunteers?

Folding Noah is like folding a fitted sheet. I try really hard, but no matter what I do, he just ends up in a big ball every time.

The Great Bed Switch-A-Roo

Last night was a big night in the Bell household. Each child slept in a different bed! Pretty exciting!!

This is Eli's brand new twin bed. He was only a about two inches away from outgrowing the toddler bed. Doesn't it look so grown-up?

Leah got the toddler bed. This was her first night in it. She handled it like a pro. We didn't have to go in once to tell her to get back in bed. She didn't cry or anything. It was great. And the next morning, she didn't come out on her own. She just sat in her bed, waiting for me to come in and get her.

Noah got the big crib. He's too big for the bassinet. I love this bedding. It's what Eli used when he was a baby! Noah doesn't seem to like it. The poor kid will just have to deal with a life full of getting what used to be Eli's.



Just as a funny side note, this is what Leah's bed looked like the morning after her first night in a toddler bed.



This is what Eli's bed looked like. Notice anything different?

Who do you think got more sleep? Eli or Leah?