New Skills

I noticed him walking around with my shoes on two days ago.  When I asked him what he was doing he said, "practicing".  I watched over the next few hours as the tying progressed. I asked him why he was using my shoes and he informed me that the laces where longer than the ones on his shoes.  Finally, after spending literally the whole day working on it he could tie his shoes.

Around the tree...

Through the loop...

And pull tight.

 I am constantly surprised by his sheer determination and willingness to master a new skill when it's something that interests him. I wish I could harness it and use it for some of the things he struggles with, but, like Dean reminds me, tying your shoes is so much more useful than rhyming...and listening. Especially when you're only five.

Breakfast of Champions

It's called refrigerator oatmeal.  Dean stumbled across it one night while looking for "power breakfasts" that were also quick, easy, and portable.  Poor Dean, he used to get three meals a day at his hospital, but recently there's been some changes made and Dean's never ending supply of biscuits and gravy, hot banana pudding, and soft serve ice cream was restricted to MD's only.  Instead of complain about it, Dean turned it into a positive.  Since making his own breakfasts and lunches he's down 10 lbs. and feeling great.  

Basically it's oats, fruit of some sort, milk, Greek yogurt, honey, and Chia seeds.  I was skeptical at first, oatmeal should be hot, right? But all it took was one taste and I'm hooked.  It's the perfect breakfast for Sadie and the boys too.   Who knew breakfast in a jar could be so good?  You can find the site we use for most of our recipes here.  

Dean brought home this powdered peanut butter.  It has all the good protein that comes with regular peanut butter, but not as much fat.

Dean makes four jars at a time and then keeps them in the fridge to grab and go.

You can find the plastic mason jar lids at Walmart.

That's right, he makes me breakfast every morning.  (Actually every night, but it's waiting for me in the fridge every morning.)  Now if I could just invent lunch and dinner in a jar!

Impressions

 I finally gave in and let her eat it all by herself.

Joining Mamabyrd in her weekly Impressions post.  Feel free to add your own either here or there...

Re-DIY Teepee

As most of you with children know, sometimes there are casualties.  With two boys co-habitating we have our fair share of "accidents".  The most recent one was a teepee.  It got ripped by the infamous ghost named It Wasn't Me,  and then just started falling apart at the seams.  I was on the lookout for a new sheet to replace it, but it got set in Sadie's room and forgotten.  Last week I found her in it, totally content and playing.  The boys said she'd been in there all morning.  It was then I knew the teepee needed to be re-done and re-gifted.

I googled DIY Teepee again and found the same instructions I'd found before here.  I had made the original for Ben last Christmas and I remembered all the cutting and sewing.  A little too labor intensive for something that would probably just get ripped again.  I was stumped.  Then I  remembered a thrifted shower curtain that we didn't end up needing in the move.  I pulled it out and was just on the verge of cutting it up when I had a moment of brilliance.  What if I turned the shower curtain on point?  I pulled one corner up to the top of the poles and two more corners around the front.  Sure, there's a 'tail' where the fourth corner sticks out the back but I just tucked it under.  Four straight pins and a few stitches later (just to create a small casing and two pockets for the two front poles to slide into) and a teepee for little sister was born.

teepee love

I LOVE the detailing on the shower curtain.  So simple.  I call it 'frilly tribal'.

It's where we find her when she's missing.  

So, there you have it.  I couldn't be more pleased.  Especially since there wasn't any hemming to do.  Sorry there isn't more of a tutorial.  If you're thinking of making one just follow the instructions for the poles from the link above and then find a shower curtain.  Once you turn it on point you can't help but figure out the rest.  It really was that easy.

Shellvin

Meet Shellvin.  Emphasis on the double "L".  We've had him since last fall, but since he hibernated for most of the winter we're really just getting to know him ourselves.  He recently suffered an identity crisis.  A well meaning neighbor informed us Shellvin was a Red Eared Slider turtle.  (We were under the impression he was a Box Turtle).  Anyway, Sliders are aquatic turtles and need a lot more special attention than a Box Turtle.  Our neighbor lent us her aquarium, filter, net, etc, and gave us a list of the special food and other items we would need.  

I was overwhelmed, we already have a dog and one more animal to take care of just seemed daunting.  I was on the verge of letting Shellvin "accidentally" escape back to the wild, but in a moment of weakness, decided to take advantage of our situation, and a requirement in Ben's scout book, and learn more about our turtle.

We hadn't been in the pet store 2 minutes when the clerk said, "Nice Box Turtle.  Where'd y'all find him?"  Sigh. Of. Relief.  I could politely give back all the stuff that would be necessary for a Red Eared Slider.  All a Box Turtle needs is a tub, a water dish, some cypress bark, and dog food or left over veggies.  All of which are very do-able at our house.

Shellvin's upgraded tub.
If he has to live on the front porch (the only place with sun and shade) then it needs to blend in at least a little bit.

Side note:  Yes, Ben got sunburned.  Yes, I feel like the worst mom ever.  

It's hard to see but his under shell is concave which means Shellvin was named correctly and doesn't need to be Shellvina.

I'm resigned.  With kids come pets.  At least it's not a snake.  I'll happily keep a pet that hibernates for half the year and eats our table scraps.  The boys are thrilled.   They just informed me that Box Turtles can live to be 100 years old.  Here's hoping Shellvin is already in his 90's.

Keeping Time

Ben had his first drum lesson last week.  We won the lesson in a silent auction for a Young Women fundraiser.  Ben was SO excited.  He even look alike a rock star with his recent hair cut featuring his summer staple, the Jedi braid.  (It's the ONLY way to convince him to cut his hair.)

He rocked out to Billy Jean, by Michael Jackson and did pretty well.  We left the lesson with two new sticks and the promise to "practice on everything".  (Just what every parent wants to hear.  We'll be buying a drum pad soon.)  The lesson was a great opportunity for Ben to increase his confidence, but also, it gave him a renewed motivation on the piano.  His teacher also plays the organ for our Sacrament services and he kept insisting to Ben that piano playing was vital to the playing of other instruments.  Hooray!!  That's also what every parent wants to hear.

He's got an evolving Christmas list that now includes a drum set and a Michael Jackson CD, or other "rock" music.  He requested his piano teacher bring him "something rock 'n roll" to play.  She's amazing and brought him a book that contains  La Bamba, Surfer Girl, and Lolipop, to name a few, all of which I assured him were rock music...I just didn't tell him in what year.  I hope this new found appreciation of music lasts for a long time.

Seeing Double

Shhh, I have a secret.  Someone has been looking at Pinterest.  His name starts with  "D" and rhymes with bean.  In the last six months three major projects, a treehouse, a sand and water table, and a desk have materialized at our house due to Pinterest influence.  These projects were all Dean motivated.  I had nothing to do with them until he brought them up.  Should I take away his man card?  He claims he doesn't actually have an account.  You know what I love? Instead of just pinning ideas to a board only to forget about it after he logs out, like someone I know, Dean takes the idea and runs with it.

One desk in the boys' room just wasn't cutting it anymore.  Dean was more frustrated with it than I was.  I didn't want to lose the desk we had in there because it had a massive bookcase attached to the top and book storage is what we really needed.

Dean found this idea while searching Pinterest...

It was then a matter of finding a bookcase and a table, on the cheap, mind you.  Challenge accepted!  

You can see what we started with.  A royal blue bookcase thrifted from the ReStore.  Dean added some crown molding and readjusted the shelves.  The "desk" part took a bit longer.  Finally we found an old solid wood door for $6 and Dean broke down and bought two large dowels that he cut in half and made legs with. A quick paint job with a $5 can of mis-tint gray and voila!  A brand new desk for two.

The chairs I had bought from the library sale with this project in mind work perfectly.  

Ben's Side

Alan's Side

I knew that extra red metal tool box would come in handy someday.  Can you have too many red metal tool boxes?

Finally, a place to draw...

So many Hardy Boys books, so little time...

Alan's art supplies

So, there you have it.  From Pinterest to finished project in a matter of weeks.  Dean screwed in the last leg, sighed, and handed me the paint brush.  "This is my favorite part",  he said.  "The part where I get to turn it over to you."  

Maybe that's why we work so well.  The give and take.  Knowing what each other is best at.  Of course there's the occasional eye roll, especially when another red tool box makes it's way to our house, as it inevitably will, but I'm certain we have many more projects to look forward too.

What's your favorite recent Pinterest project?