Feelin' crafty

While 95% of this blog centers around the boys, I wanted to show of some of the things I've been doing lately. First I learned how to crochet last fall thanks to Mama Mickey. While basic stitches I understood, anything more complicated than that and I was calling for reinforcements. With that said most of my creations have been done using a basic double crochet stitch.

My first creation was a travel/car blanket. (It's in the car and I never remember to bring a camera with me so there's no pic)

I meant to make it for just one of the boys but it got too long and so I made it for two of them. William and Matthew sit in the back so it's the perfect length for them to have enough to cover their laps.

Creation #2: Matthew's hat.

 

Matthew loves hats so I made this for him last fall. Mama Mickey helped me start though it took a long time since we made up the pattern as we went. But I LOVE the end product! And so does Matthew! He looks so cute in it and he's easy to spot outside.

Another creation was my ear warmers. I didn't have a pic of them since they're still packed up but I made them for myself last year. I like them ok though they're not as tight as I wanted them to be so they keep falling over my face. Might make another one this year. Oh and that was my first "did it in a day" project.

That's all I did last year. Three projects. Well this year I've done three and a half and more still in the works!

The end of September I started on blankets for the boys. I wanted to make each boy their own blanket. Eric said that they can use them in the car but I kinda want them in the house so they can use more often. Anyway here they are.

I finished William's in time to give it to him at his birthday party. He loves it! He sleeps with it under his pillow and likes to make a fort with it. Matthew also got his. I just gave it to him this past week though it had been done for several days. He enjoys just packing it around. One note: I used different size hooks with each blanket. This gave a different look which I was aiming for. William got the biggest hook, Matthew medium and Samuel the smallest. With Samuel's I found the perfect color for his blanket. Unfortunately I only bought one skein of yarn and the store no longer carries that color!! Lesson learned: buy what you need for your project the first time!! So Samuel's blanket is unfinished and I'm still hunting for more of the same yarn. This is what I have so far.

My latest project, as of this post is this hat with ear covers.

What's scarier looking the hat or the monkey? 

I wanted to practice the pattern in hopes that I can learn it well enough to make a hat for a gift for someone. I was so proud of myself for learning one, how to read a pattern, I swear it's written in a foreign language, two for learning how to make a magic ring, half double crochet stitch and decrease stitch all in one sitting. And I made this hat in one evening!! (Ok not quite true, I started the magic ring part late one night and then spent the next two hours struggling with the next round of stitches. Mama Mickey had to keep explaining things to me and finally I took it apart and started over the next day. Thus the hat was done in one day.) The only problem is that the pattern said it could fit 3-6 month babies but when I tried it on a 3 month old it was too small!! So I added the purple yarn to lengthen it. That changed the shape of the overall hat but it still looks cute. 

Now to go out and buy more yarn so I can do all the things I want to this season!!

6 years old

Someone had a birthday!

He asked for muffins for breakfast. Funny story: I took the muffins out and had the boys sit down. I stuck the candle in and Eric lit it while we sang Happy Birthday. Once he was done blowing out the candle Eric took it out, then called for me. He held up the candle and half was missing. Yep it melted in the muffin. Thankfully there were plenty of muffins to spare.

Before heading down to Mama and Papa's we let William open one of his presents from Nai Nai. He got the Lorax DVD. That movie kept everyone quiet for the whole trip!

William's other gifts were a fishing pole from Mama and Papa and the Farming Game kid version from the Brignones. Oh and Silly Puddy from Emma. He also got the game Sorry from Nai Nai. He got almost everything on his wish list. What a spoiled little boy. 

(FYI the one thing he didn't get was Voltron DVD. I introduced him to some 80's cartoons and now that's what he likes. So much better than the stuff on now a days.)

William has grown up so much this last year. He's lost 2 teeth, learned to whistle both in and out, and started homeschool. He's now 3'10" and 48 pounds. He's active as ever and a wonderful big brother. William is also a wonderful student. He loves to learn and learns quickly. We've tackled fractions, time, sight words/reading. His favorite subject is Math "but I like art too!" 

It has been so fun to see William grow and develop and we look forward to see what he'll do this next year.

Mama's Pumpkin Patch

For a second year the boys got to visit Mama Mickey's garden to pick their pumpkins. She buys different size and shape pumpkins and lets the grandkids pick the one they want. William found his quick, Matthew wanted a round one, and Samuel wanted "big one". Now we're trying to decide if we're going to carve them or paint them or just let them sit outside.

More Projects

 For social studies we learned about the American flag. We talked about why there are a certain number of stars and stripes and what they represent. The boys then colored their own flag.

 Another Pintrest game I found was Power Tower. Using dixie cups you write sight words and have the kids read them. If they get one wrong they have to knock the tower down and start over. I started with ten sight words William had been struggling with. He has to look at the word and say it before he can stack it. Once he builds his tower he can bowl and knock it over.

The younger two also wanted in on the game. I had William say the word to his brothers and then have them repeat the word. Once they were done they could bowl.

To make it harder for William I had him use the word in a sentence once he said the word. I wanted him to understand what the word meant. He did great with his first ten words and is now on to his second set. Once he's done with three sets I'll have him do them all and see how big of a tower he can make.

Speech Therapy

From the end of September of last year Matthew has had one on one speech therapy at home with Susan. She would come on Tuesday mornings and have some sounds for him to practice saying and if he did well he got to play a few learning games on her Ipad. The lessons were only an hour long but Matthew rarely had trouble sitting through the whole lesson.

The last week of September we said good bye to Susan. She has some time conflicts come up with her other job and had to let us go. We will miss her and are so thankful for all she's done to help Matthew express himself better.

Her last evaluation of Matthew showed just how far he's come. We had 35 sessions (35 hours) and when he started he was diagnosed as having both expressive and articulation disorder. Now he shows no delay in his expressive language. Although he still struggles to articulate his words, he has come so far in his speaking skills that it was the biggest improvement in such a short amount of time that Susan has ever seen. Some of our goals from when we first started were to have him identify each member of the family by name, speak using full sentences, and show articulation improvement of at least fifty percent. Well he knocked all those goals out of the park!! We are so proud of him and his hard work.

Being Silly

Samuel fell asleep in his tip toes!