Lazy Valentine's Crafts

Remember last year, when I printed 8x10, black and white photos of Brycen, then we "dressed" the photo like an animal? And added corny puns?

So cute! Well this year I wasn't quite as creative. And I was definitely less hands on.

We had intentions of making a ton of cards to mail out. This is as far as Brycen got before losing interest:

paper towel roll heart stamper!

He enjoyed stamping the inside of the card, but didn't want to make more. And once the inside was dry, he had no interest in stamping the outside. And I had no interest in pushing it.

B also has wisely decided he never wants his hand painted again. I am sure this is because I have painted his hand about 800 times in his short 4 years.

His friend, however, made his handprint into a monkey and his mom completed the card with vines . . . "I love hanging out with you, Valentine."

Brycen had NO issues painting MY hand though.

Finally, for his class Valentine's, I bribed him to pose (as all good parents do).

I added the "Happy Valentine's Day!" and later, some hearts using my Over app.

My mom showed me the little "arrow cut" secret because I was making a mess of the photos trying to make holes. She's a smart cookie, my mom.

And then we added the final touch:

The puns for lollipops aren't too kid friendly.

-I'd pop for you
-I'm a sucker for you, Valentine
-How many licks, Valentine?

So I left the cards as is. Brycen put the cards in envelopes, and sealed them with heart stickers. I realized this activity isn't really putting the kid to work, but I am sure he''ll make up for that next year.

Happy Valentine's Day, if you celebrate it! And I only do because I have the kiddo, and he makes every holiday 100 times better, for me.

A Sleepover with 4 Year Old Boys

Although Brycen often sleeps over at his cousin's house, he has been asking to have a sleepover at my place for a long time. Probably since we implanted the idea in his head over a year ago. Happily, his good friend and his good friend's mother have been onboard since the get go. It was just a matter of finding a date that would work, and a date when I was up to the task.

Thankfully, his little friend's mama is a good friend of mine, and totally understands my situation. There were a lot of times when I sat in comfort with the boys, monitoring a game, while she cooked or put things away or washed dishes. Thank you Sarah, for being so awesome!

Here are some fun things we did to make us parents of the year make sure the night ran smoothly:

1. Trail Mix Station:

2. Supervised games:

3. Fun dinner idea the boys could make: pigs in a blanket:

4. And dessert: simple vanilla ice cream:

5. Things got serious when we broke out our fort building skills. I have learned the key to making a good fort is rope. We tied the rope in 4 places, making a weird quadrilateral shape, and covered with a HUGE sheet. (another key: blankets pull things down, sheets are easier, save the blankets to make excellent floors). And one last thing all complete forts need: a string of holiday lights. Okay, a fort is just fine without, but we were honestly working towards a Ph.D in fort building. Or at least a badge of some sort:

Brycen would like me to say the lantern is also needed for staying in a fort.

6. Once the fort is completed it is time for:

7. Then we wound down for bedtime:

8. They actually did sleep in the fort!

9. I don't have any breakfast pictures, but my friend made sausage and pancakes and I made little fruit salads. B of course ended up eating applesauce and a cup of dry cheerios.

10. We totally forgot to make special drinks last night. Not wanting the ingredients to go to waste, we decided 10am is a great time for Shirley Temples:

11. We had some time to kill this morning, and since the weather was not favorable for going outside, we used the energy we had left to paint with the boys. I will probably do a separate post about making homemade Valentine's this week. It ALWAYS helps to have all art supplies ready before even mentioning painting or an art project!

In which I become the Incredible Hulk.

As far as cancer goes I did really well! The hardest part of having Brycen here is never knowing if he will sleep through the night. So I wake up in anticipation every hour! But the boys slept nearly to 7am and I still felt good. After our friends left around noon my brother came over to help me . . . and suddenly ALL my energy was gone. It didn't slowly deplete, I went from full gas tank to empty in 9 seconds. Luckily Brycen loves his uncle and didn't mind when I disappeared to nap.

Overall: Sleepover success!!

Christmas Tree Cone Forest

Today my wheelchair and I went to the Biltmore House in Asheville. Since I wasn't allowed to take pictures of their many Christmas trees . . . here are some cone forests instead:

Last year's forest + 2 new ones

A friend asked me to make her a forest, and I loved the way it came out!

This F*~k^@g Christmas Wreath!

I don't really have butter and Chips Ahoy cookies in my bed. I have been using them to store yarn that keeps getting tangled. So far it has worked! 

I will probably eventually add more balls to the wreath, but for now I am hanging it up as is!

Around Here . . .

Around here, we are playing with the settings on my camera:

Making ornaments:

Going out to breakfast with Rudolph:

Playing in great big boxes, that strangely brought a small package, but tons of packaging:

Dreaming of making this cookie:

Taking inventory of our Teeny Mate football players:

Still going through toy catalogs:

Having serious conversation on a purple velvet couch with a skinny Santa, outside in 60 degree weather:

Shopping at a small art festival:

Making artwork for friends far away:

Mailing out 50+ Christmas cards:

And lastly, taking inventory of pretty filler cards, and making even more!

How was your weekend?