Paper Jump, a New Year's Tradition.

    The growth and evolution of a family tradition is an amazing thing isn't it? Our family has a special little tradition, born Romyn's first Christmas, which has blossomed into a full blown New Year's Day event which we call... PAPER JUMP!
    Now, due to my extremely unorganized digital photo collection (Hrm, maybe I should resolve to sort that out this year.) I cannot share with you our first paper photo session, when on Christmas Day I shoved a screaming six month old Romyn into a pile of wrapping paper, hoping for an adorable keepsake photo. I vaguely remember him eating some paper.... maybe? And I can't tell you that we've taken pictures every year, because the Christmas my husband was deployed, and when I was 9 months pregnant with B, and sick with the flu, I'm pretty sure I didn't. But I can tell you, that somehow, over the years, just wanting to get a cute photo of my boys with all their Christmas wrapping paper, has turned into our favorite family tradition....  and last year it even earned itself a name.

    PAPER JUMP!

    So, here's how it goes, on Christmas day, the boys like to crumple up all their gift wrap, and toss it into a bin for points, which I then push out of the way for a few days. (My husband and I used to do this before we had kids when I would save wrapping to pack up all our holiday decor. Seeing it again next Christmas always made me happy.) Since our boys are so busy playing with new toys, it's alright to leave this very tempting box of paper forgotten for a bit, while I pack away all our festive chachkies and clean house for the new year. Our boys are too little to stay up on New Year's Eve, so they look forward to celebrating  by "playing in the paper" first thing on New Year's Day.

 

      This year, New Year's Day was gloomy, and my boys were not feeling it. (Little did I know, we were fixing to ring in 2013 with a bit of a stomach bug.) So Paper Jump 2013 was not the spectacular event I expected it to be, but the boys had a good time anyway. After a short "swim" through the paper, Baelin decided he'd rather lie down, and Romyn tried to make the most of it, collecting his favorite papers and trims, and gluing himself together a creation. Romyn suggested next year we keep all the packaging and plastic bits from toys  so he can make something a little more substantial. Well, I guess we might have something new to look forward to during Paper Jump 2014.

 

 Happy New Year from My Family to Yours! <3 -Kendra

 

   
   

Homemade ornaments, and other Holiday craftiness and happenings...

           Every year since I can remember my parents presented my brother and I with a new ornament when we put up our Christmas tree. It's something I have continued with my boys since their first Christmas, carefully selecting ornaments that celebrate their past year. For 2012 we decided to commemorate the boy's introductions to either Harry Potter, Star Wars, or Star Trek, (Yes, my future daughter in laws are going to loooooove me, I know.) and usually Hallmark has exactly what I want... but this time... they let me down. Actually, after talking to my boys, I discovered Hallmark had made exactly what they wanted, a few seasons ago...  and I started stalking Golden Snitch and Star Trek Tribble ornaments on Ebay. I wasted a lot of time being out bid before I spotted this Golden Snitch Ornament on Pinterest. (Smacks head, of course I'll just make my own.)
             My version uses air dry clay, wire wings wrapped in mod-podged vellum, and gold leaf. I still need to go over it with a gold pen, as my son is a stickler for details and would like it to be perfect. I'll do that later though... after more cookies.
              My youngest changed his mind about the tribble, deciding he'd rather have an Angry Bird ornament instead. He convinced me he has had such a magical time playing Angry Birds, he certainly deserved an ornament celebrating his Piggy-smashing achievements. This is how his turned out.

                   And here is a little more of what I've been up to this month so far...

       We adopted a kitten! B and I often visit the cats at PetSmart and last week this little guy was there.... the spitting image of B's lovey, "Big Grey Cat". He even had the same green collar, it was was meant to be! (I'm still telling myself this after cleaning the litter box for a week, and finding my curtains and couch ripped.) Really Comet is great with the boys, and an adorable, snugly, naughty cat. His most favorite activities are to rip down my holiday garland, race our little dog, and sleep on my back.         

             We also made some Christmas gifts, sugar cookies for our neighbors and teachers,wreaths for the Aunties, and my boys made a ton of clay figurines.... which I accidentally, and promptly smashed. I felt awful, but R and B took it fairly well. A clay time do over is on the agenda for this week.

          My oldest has really been in the spirit this holiday season. He made "Holiday Thankful" cards for everyone who waited on us at dinner the other night, donated from his piggy banks to every salvation army bin we've passed, and collected lots of goods for his school's giving tree. I'm pretty proud of his generosity.

          And of course  our shelf elf, Fred Carrot Treeskirt, has been busy spying on our boys in creatively exhausting ways.

           There is still lots of fun to be had this month, gingerbread houses, hot coco and holiday movies, sleeping in, I can't wait for winter break to start!

           I hope you've got lots of fun to look forward to as well! -Kendra

Happy Turkey Day!

Romyn's Turkey.

GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!

                We're all off to spend the day stuffing our face's at my parents house. We'll play some cards and Nintendo , jiggle some rainbow jello and act fat and lazy. Hope all of you have an amazing day with the ones you love!

                 <3- Kendra

I promise to talk some more about rainbow jello after the holiday.



Graffiti Fun with Crayola Window Crayons. (A review.)

           Once upon a time it was gloomy outside, so Daddy bought some Crayola Window Crayons. Then Mommy hid them away because she thought "I am NOT going to clean up that mess!" and she forgot all about them.
           Once upon a different time it was gloomy again, and the boys were crazy, and Mommy was trying to keep calm when she came across the Crayola Window Crayons... she cursed her husband and her own weakness as she gave them to her boys and steered them to the windows. Amazingly, she then enjoyed an entire cuppa coffee before she realized her happy boys were spreading rainbow colored finger prints all over the house. (Messy.)
            The next day it was sunny... but the boys were thrilled to be back at the windows again anyway.

 

               Years ago I used Crayola's Window Markers for a project and was not thrilled with the results. The colors weren't bright, and passersby could not see my adorable snowflakes from the street. (Sad.) These crayon versions are LOUD bright, and went on very smoothly. The downside is that the boys managed to get color all over their hands, which traveled onto the windowsills and walls. A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser was the only way to get everything tidy again. Cleaning the window was not easy either, you can see a portion that was "cleaned" around the top of the door in the purple framed picture, it took me three tries with Windex, elbow grease, and paper towels to scrub it all off. (In fact the paned windows are still colored, because I dread the detail work I know is going to be involved. First the glass, then the trim...I shudder.)

               The truth though... I expect art to be messy. Glitter, glue, snipping paper, and what-not, it's always a disaster afterwards. The day and a half of peace I had, finding letters written to me on the windows, stick figure kitty shadows dancing around on the floor, and little boys who can't stop bragging about their creations is worth half a bottle of window cleaner any day.

              We give window crayons two smudgy rainbow thumbs up. I hope your day is arty too! -Kendra

Tribbles and Red Shirts...Halloween 2012

          What do you know? Star Trek won out over Mario this year. HURRAY! The boys were very pleased with their costumes, thrilled that Gramps surprised them with shinny "real" badges and communicators, and extra happy with the Tribbles  I ordered from Think Geek. These little guys vibrate around the floor and make "tribblie" noises when you pat them... or throw them at your brother. (Oh... I'm sorry... "Fluffball" was just trying to get away from the Klingons I'm told.)
          The best part of having Tribbles in the family is watching Romyn geek out when people ask him about his ".....uh, what have you got there?" and that totally awkward moment when he informs them that "...it's so crazy because they are borned pregnant!"
          Mommy just waves her hand dismissively and says "Eh... you know...Trekkie stuff." I love my little nerds!
          Hope you're all having a great weekend! Today the boys and I finished the 2nd Harry Potter book, and saw Wreck it Ralph, which was good, but I especially loved the intro short "Paperman". (LOVED.) We think you should all check it out. -Kendra

Painted Rocks. Fall's new tradition.

   This year my family is so busy with this and that we've had to skip a few of our normal Fall traditions. I was stressing about this, until I realized it's a perfect excuse to create a few new mini traditions to add to our normal mix. One we worked on this week was inspired by Color Me Katie, a blog with lots of great rainbow-ie ideas, like this one.
   We thought, as it's almost Halloween, some of the rocks and shells kicking around our backyard might like to dress up. Maybe even take a trip to the local park. So we got to work. Baelin made a few "green-eyed-ghosts" while Romyn created a fortune-teller and Harry Potter. We had a lot of fun stacking them around the dinning room table before introducing them to their new home.



    While hiding them along a busy path, the boys imagined all sorts of things passersby might say when their little friends were spotted. Things like, "Ooooh, what a cute little face. It makes me happy!" and "Oh no, it's a chopped off head... someone call the police!!" (Yikes.)
    Baelin had the hardest time finding the perfect spot for his favorite piece, the big clam shell "ghostie". It was left and run back to so many times I thought we were going to have to take it home, but eventually, after almost jumping off a bridge and into the stream, it found a very satisfactory spot in a tree, and B was happy to leave it.


(Romyn loves his "I'm a fan of Dogs" tee I made him.)

       We had so much fun with this little project we may not be able to wait a whole year to do it again. Snowmen rocks would be really cute after all.

        One of the best bits of our day was discovering one of Daddy's hidden talents! Can anyone else whistle into an acorn cap? (Really I might have been more impressed then the boys.)



       We didn't make it out to the pumpkin patch this year, but on our way home from this adventure we did swing by a local church to pick some up for our porch. (A pumpkin on the porch is one tradition I cannot skip!) Yummy seeds will be coming out of the oven shortly.
        Have you created any new traditions this season? Wishing you fun in all you do!  -Kendra

The Summer Fort.

          We made an awesome fort this summer. I miss it. It was so big, and so awesome, Romyn had to make a map to find his way around!
          It's a good thing forts are fun no matter the season, because I am thinking that an end-of-October-hello-fall-we're-so-happy-you're-here fort is a good idea. And I am pretty sure I could make an even bigger, even more awesome fort with a little extra planning. Then we could all snuggle up inside with candy corn and donuts and watch the first Harry Potter movie. (Romyn and I are almost done with the book!)

 

         Maybe candy corn and donuts don't really mesh, but today I am in the mood for both. Have a great weekend! -Kendra