Wednesday, March 31, 2010

For my Little Nephew

I'm super late getting this out for my Little nephew Darrin for his birthday and I really don't have a great excuse.  We have been so super busy with baseball, the house, buying furniture, homeschooling, piano, friends, parties..well..you get the idea.  This is a coloring book tote with handy little slots on the outside of the bag for all his crayons.  Funny story about this tote..after I finished sewing it Nicholas BEGGED to keep it..I mean cried he wanted it so bad.  He loves the puppy fabric(and I hope little Darrin will too).  So, I had to run out and secretly buy some extra fabric to make something for Nicholas too...
I hope you'll like it sweet Darrin!
Happy Birthday from your  Auntie Tanya!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Creating...

The boys have been busy making things for their Grandma's Easter gift last week.  We are sending them out tomorrow so y'all should all get them soon.
They aren't perfect, but made with love...

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Piano at the Nursing Home




The boys have begun playing piano every other week at a local nursing home.  They love it(especially Matthew).  When I asked them last week what their favorite thing about playing piano was they both said they enjoyed playing for the seniors.  We don't have any family here, which saddens me greatly, so the boys never get to play for extended family but in playing for the nursing home, it's been a blessing to us as well as them.  You can just see the joy in the ladies faces when the boys sing and play old hyms like Amazing Grace and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.  They also love when the boys play duets-mostly blues songs.   They sometimes save their cookies for the boys in exchange for a hug of course.  It's been a wonderful experience...

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Leprechaun visit..

Well, the boys didn't catch the leprechaun this year despite the great traps.  He did manage to steal my gold earrings.  He did leave the boys gold chocolate coins inside the traps but did leave a couple of tricks as well.
First they recieved notes from the Leprechaun...
He also drew a shamrock on their heads!




He made our milk green and yes...he did pee green in the boys toilet and didn't flush!  He's one silly Leprechaun!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

That Sneaky, Sneaky Leprechaun...


Every year Mr. Sneaky Leprechaun visits our home.  And every year the boys master mind traps to try and catch him.  Because we all know if you catch a leprechaun you get his pot of gold, right?  Well, this year is no different.  I have loaned out my earrings because the boys wouldn't take the chance to put in the *real* gold coin Daddy brought home from his last business trip, so I had to scrounge up some gold earrings.  They worked all evening trying to find the best way to catch the sneaky leprechaun.
Here is Nicholas's first trap.  He has enticed the leprechaun with a colorful rainbow and inside the box is an gold earring in the pot-o-construction paper.  He has tied fishing line to the top of the box so when the leprechaun enters the box, Nicholas then pulls the invisible string  which in turn causes the top of the box to close and catch him!


Here is Matthew's box.  And while his is not as colorful, you do see the pot-o-green drawn in.  However, Matthew has ingeniusly TAPED down the earring to frustrate the leprechaun in the hopes of gaining more time to catch him-Brilliant!!  He has also used the fishing line trigger method in hopes of closing the box when the leprechaun enters.

Here is Matthew's warning system.  He has set up an alarm and light to distract the leprechaun and wake him up so that he can catch him.


And Nicholas's system is equally sneaky.  He has tied fishing line from one end of his bedroom to the other.  And on the one line he has two spoons.  When the leprechaun walks into the room, he will trip on the line, which will in turn cause the spoons to rattle and alarm the boys to wake up.

Now, these traps are especially good this year.  But, as we all know, leprechauns are very, very hard to catch.  But, I do know that last year Mr. Sneaky Leprechaun, while not getting caught, was very amused and left the boys some treats...but also some tricks...stay tuned to see what happens tomorrow!

Friday, March 12, 2010

"The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes."
-Harold B. Lee