More Brooklyn!

Because, really, can you get too much of this:

These guys can't seem to get enough:

How old are you today, Brooklyn?
I'm 4 days old!

Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments and congratulations.  Life as 6 is going wonderfully so far!

Baby Girl

Hallelujah! Miss B has arrived!

All is well.

Praise the Lord.

Pumpkin!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

One of my favorite things about fall is pumpkin.  I love to decorate with them, craft them with the boys, and, best of all... cook with them!


Back in the late spring my dad let me have an entire row in his garden for pumpkins.  We planted two varieties: one large one for decorating, and a smaller one for eating.  I had grand visions of front porch displays and filling my freezer with my own pumpkin puree for use all fall.  


And then we had the Texas Heat Wave of the Century and not one pumpkin survived.  So sad!  So, another year of canned pumpkin for me.  And I better stock up, because I have been collecting quite a few pumpkin recipes.


Like these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.  


In fact, that same blogger (a fellow pumpkin lover) has an entire pumpkin roundup that looks yum!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

I've already made these Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes, and they were delicious!  Light and fluffy, with just the right amount of pumpkin.  Finished perfectly with the piped cream cheese frosting and a tiny sprinkle of nutmeg.


But if you really want to go all out on your cupcakes you could try these Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes.  Hello!


I am incredibly intrigued by this recipe for Pumpkin Cornbread.  And trying to decide just the right thing to serve it with.  Any ideas?


Someday I will have to discuss my brownie obsession with you.  It has taken me by surprise.  For now, I'll just share this: Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies.  Oh yes.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Need breakfast?  How about Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting?


And finally, the only other recipe I've actually tried (so far): Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I've seen recipes like this one all over the internet lately.  I found this one last year and made it a couple of times then and once already this year.  I'm not cool enough for espresso, so I just pour some into a cup of strong coffee.  Decaf, of course. ;)


Who knows how many of these I'll actually get to.  But I like having them all (plus a few more) tucked away when the pumpkin mood strikes. 
Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe?

Weekend Fun

Baby Hats

Still here.  Still waiting.  Still creating.  


Yesterday's baby project came from a well-timed link on One Pretty Thing. 


Saw it, emailed it (to mom), made it.  Ok, so mom made it.  I felt kind of weird, like I handed out an assignment.  But I loved watching her work and turn out something amazingly cute in an amazingly short amount of time!


First, gather some knits in cute prints.

 Cut out pattern pieces & assemble.

 Baby hats!

Pattern & tutorial can be found here.

280 days.... and counting.

In case you haven't noticed, the baby counter is sitting at Zero.  

Which has brought to me this realization:

After four babies...36 months of being pregnant... this is the first time I have ever been pregnant on my due date.

Dale was born the day before his due date.  Alan and Tyler one week before.  All induced.

This waiting it out is tough stuff.

The plus side of all the waiting (besides baby growing and developing all these extra days) has been the making and crafting.  Mom and I have to do something to keep our minds and hands occupied.

Thus the frequent visits to Hobby Lobby these days.  

The lady in the fabric department is starting to recognize us.  

And I'm not kidding.

This week's find was a remnant of pink polka-dot fleece, on clearance!  Couldn't leave that behind, now could we?

Interestingly, when we got it home and unrolled it, we discovered it was a rather oblong piece.

So we decided to work with it, fringing the ends ....

...for a soft sweet blanket!

Yay! It's finally fall!

Of course, you have to realize that 'fall' in these parts can still involve temps near 90.  But it is usually so much cooler in the evenings and mornings than the scorching summer.


So we go ahead and count it as fall, even before we start wearing jeans and sweaters.  Fall 1 maybe.  And then Fall 2 comes along towards mid-October through Thanksgiving or so.  During Fall 2 you actually need long sleeves and a jacket.  And see the first frost.


Aren't you glad for for my Texas weather tutorial?


All I'm saying is... yay! Fall!  Just might be my favorite season.  It's hard to pick a favorite though, because I always enjoy the next one rolling in.


I think my boys enjoy changing seasons as much as I do.  They have decided the displays in the foyer of Hobby Lobby make a great photo op.  Both of these pictures were at their request:

I'm thinking we ought to catch them once a season... imagine what a collection we'd have!

Gloop, gluck, slime.

A woman expecting a baby any day really shouldn't leave her blog idle for days at a time.


Or maybe the suspense isn't getting to you like it is to me.  Sometimes, at the height of wondering 'when will it be time?', my phone will ring and I jump to answer, thinking someone is calling to let me know it's baby time!  Which makes no sense, because I will be first to know.  I will be the one making the "it's time" phone calls.
I think it's probably a remnant from our waiting for the transplant call days.  


Back then we waited for the phone to ring to know when it was time to take our baby to the hospital.
Now we are waiting for .... other things... to know when it is time to go to the hospital and get our baby.


At any rate, my point is we are still here.  Still waiting. 


Yesterday's waiting activity was a messy one....
We made slime!

A heaping 2/3 cup cornstarch, almost an equal amount of water, and several drops of food coloring.

Mix well and you get an amazing concoction that behaves like both a solid and a liquid!

Fun for all ages, but incredibly messy.  I found it best to leave the huge table (and floor and chair) mess to dry and then it scraped away easily.  

All the boys enjoyed it, but Alan stayed long (and I do mean long) after the other two had their fill.

Tick tock, tick tock..... another day, another project!

Feeling Artsy?

If I ever have another baby you will find us following our schedule and 'doing school' until the very end.  


This time around once we entered the realm of getting close to D-day, we pretty much dropped all school, quickly followed by most structure and routine.  


Duh.  


The boys have handled it ok, but my brain... my brain could have used the distraction.


But there has been good to come from this.


Not only is the house staying cleaner than it has in months, we are actually getting to fun stuff that often gets neglected in the daily routine.


Fun stuff like... art!

One morning this week we busted out the paints and brushes and did a 'for real' art project.

I was curious to see how the boys would take being instructed instead of just a painting free-for-all.

And while they did ask a time or two at first if they could paint whatever they wanted, by the time we got into it good the verdict was in....


"This is fun!"


Yay!

We had a simple lesson on primary colors and mixing them to form the secondaries.

(I love how Tyler is admiring his work.)

Even when we get back to a school schedule I want to remember to set aside time for structured fun and projects like this.  Mmmm... I'm already eyeing Fall and the holidays and dreaming of all the ideas out there!

And if Miss B continues delaying her arrival I will definitely be considering another 'real' art project for next week! But not today.  Today we're making cookies. :)

Full instructions for this project can be found at 

Art Lessons for Kids.

A few of my favorite things...

Miss B isn't even here yet, and already she has been the recipient of so many beautiful things and sweet, precious gifts.  One onesie in particular makes me laugh... it says "I'm Kind of a Big Deal".  And isn't that the truth?  Of course, there is also the bib that says, "I am NOT a Boy".  I assume it's meant for little baldy girls, but my boys and I get a kick out of it for different (obvious) reasons.

While there is no way I can share every gift here, I thought I would show and tell some of the sweet and special things that have come into our home in the last few weeks.

First up, we were so happy to have a visit from my sister and BIL recently.  We don't get to see them nearly enough.  My sweet sister showed up with a handful of crocheted headbands... all different sizes and colors, and each adorned with a precious crocheted flower.  And then, sitting right in my living room one night, she made one more!

Then there was the giftbag from friends at church.  Among the other baby things in the bag was this soft, sweet blanket:

I was later informed that the blanket had belonged to the couple's young teenage daughter.  The very same girl who has a soft spot for Tyler and often takes care of him at church.  She searched through her things, picked it out, washed it up and tied up for Miss B.  I can't wait to wrap our little miss up in such a special gift!

And finally.... all waiting for someone's arrival, is the cradle I slept in as a baby, freshly made with brand-spankin' new bedding that my mom and I tag-team sewed over the course of a few days.  

Only one thing missing....and yet, we are already so blessed!

August Ocean Unit

Preschool Resources:

Under the Sea

Exploring the Ocean with a Hermit Crab (Based on Eric Carle's House for Hermit Crab)

Elementary Resources:

Exploring the Deep Sea

Paper Plate Fish
(from "Under the Sea")

Goes great with the book Rainbow Fish)

Gigantic Ocean mural posters
(bought second-hand a couple of years ago)

Feeding the Octopus goldfish crackers

(From "Under the Sea")

Octopus and crab in 'seaweed'

Paper Plate & Balloon Octopus

Crab Handprint Puppets

(From "Under the Sea")

Sand & Glitter Seahorses

Jellyfish

Some of our book selections:

If you enjoy older living books, I cannot say enough good things about Houses of the Sea!

Of course, this isn't an all-inclusive list of our month+ long unit, but a smattering of our favorites (and the ones I remembered to get pictures of.) ;)

As far as the currclick resources listed at the beginning, "Under the Sea" is full of excellent ideas and great printables for the Preschool/Kindergarten set.  Lots of alphabet, math and other activities... 90 pages worth!  Almost everything I buy on currclick I wait and get on sale, but if you are thinking of doing an ocean unit w/your 3-6 year old (depending on ability) this would be worth full-price! (A whopping $5 if I remember correctly) ;)

The Hermit Crab resource includes printables for a lapbook.