Fun with the Ellsworth's

My brother, Chad and his wife, Katie...and their two little girls, Sydney and Samantha came to visit us this week. We had sooooo much fun!!! We had things jam-packed to do, and there was never a dull moment. Max loved having cousins come to visit, and had so much fun doing so many different things than we normally do. We are soooo tired!! (OK, I am so tired) but it was well worth it!

Sydney and Maxer looking for shells Of course, we had to play on the beach...Max is getting better at staying in one general location...but we still have a long way to go! Why can't he stay within 50 yards of his mom...is that too much to ask???

Daddy got to come with us on our little beach trip for a minute, so that was fun!

Max's favorite thing to do at the beach is collect seaweed...sick-nasty!

Of course we went to Disneyland and California Adventure! We went for 3 days in a row, but weren't bored of it even then. The girls got to meet their favorite Princesses (that wasn't soo cool for Max, but fun for them) and even met Tinkerbell! Max and the girls took their first jaunt on the Teacups, which all three of the kids LOVED, and we played in Mickey's Toon Town, which we hadn't done yet, which was also very fun for moo. This is us meeting Mickey Mouse...he was a little too shy around Minnie Mouse, so we don't have a good picture of that...

After three days of Disney Craziness, we drove down to San Diego and hit up Seaworld. Max was sooo excited to see the Beluga Whales, the Polar Bears, he got to pet the Sting Rays, which he loved, feed the seals, see the Sea Lion and Otter show, the dolphin show, and of course, Shamu...He was scared of the shows at first, but quickly got the feel of it, and had sooo much fun!

He also saw Elmo...so fun, and the kids got soaked in Elmo's little play land...Max got lucky that he has such a fun aunt and uncle who took him on the kiddie rides (which meant they had to go on each twice) since mommy and ivy weren't aloud to go...isn't that weird since I can go on the exact rides at the big D? whatever...Sea World was sooo fun!

Then....the next day, Daddy came with us to San Diego's Wild Animal Park!We saw a huge daddy lion up close and personal...... not to mention, the Rhinos, prego Giraffe's, prego Elephants...and about 30 different species of antelope...We saw Gorillas, monkeys and flamingos...

we got to pet some kind of deer...which was soooo fun for max...and was having a heart attack in there because max only has one speed, and the words "walk slow" mean nothing....running is the only option...

But Mommy's favorite part was feeding the Lorikeets...how freaking cool is this?!? Max really liked this part, too. So glad I forked out the $3.00 to buy a sacrament-sized cup of 'nectar'. no, for reals, I'm so glad I did.

Max even fed them...

and to top it all off, we had a bonfire on the beach and made s'mores...an HB classic.

Come back, again, girlies!! we loved playing with you!!!

now what are we gonna do...life as it once was is real boring.

i think he hearts v day

Valentines Day just might be Max's favorite holiday...

a new shirt, a huge red shovel and Pink Milk???

Can it get any better?

He easily posed for his Valentines Day picture and even said 'cheese'.

Happy Valentines Day to my Boys!

Happy Valentines, Jeff and Max!!!

I about couldn't wait for the day to get here to give you the goodies I made you!
I hope you like them!

a pink ipod for Jeff made out of a sweetheart box of conversation hearts and 2 mini reeses peanut butter cups for the headphones

...idea compliments of Family Fun Magazine, february issue

and

an 'I Dig U Sand Shovel' just for Max

(and his little neighborhood friends)(idea from who knows where, but my sister sent me a picture of it on my email!!!)

I love you all the time, boys!

Burp Cloths

I was out spying, again...Nothing I do is original, I usually copy from my sisters and my friends, but this time, I was spying on professionals...at this cute kid boutique here in Huntington Beach. Anyways, I saw something similar to this (similar because the sewing was waaaaay better than mine will ever be...those dang circles are tough!) and I thought...I can totally do that! I didn't even have to buy anything!

...and for some reason, I can't turn this picture to face the correct way, but whatever...

ps...they are burp cloths, if you can't tell...

P.S.

This list has been in alive since before Thanksgiving...

...and just so you know, this feels sooo good!

Playdough Ain't JUST for Sissys!

I'm just wondering why our little stash of playdough is completely filled with girly colors...Pink, red, yellow. So, I had to put my foot down. My sister, Brandy sent me a link to make Glitter Playdough...which sounded so fun! So, I whipped up some Falcon-colored (get 'em Woodinville Falcons), manly-glitter-playdough during naptime today. Fun Project for me!Can you see the fun glitter??
...and Max enjoyed making playdough waffles with the only playdough tool I own (my potato masher) :)

We made glittery green manly spiders, snails, and sea turtles...

Playdough ain't just for sissys!

ps...the glitter is not as messy as it sounds, the playdough pretty much keeps most of it in it's grasp!

TuTus

Hooooo-rAy!

I finally did this one...another thing that's been sitting on my list of things to do. I broke out my tulle stash (it's pretty small, but a stash nontheless) and got to work on a tutu that I promised my neice Clara, and one for Ivy. My friend Jen told me how to do them (I'm sure all you other crafty little witches have already made these, so I'm old news, but sooo fun and easy!)

The rockstar one on the right is for Clara, and the mixed pinks is for Ivy...I know, surprising that I'm giving the rockstar one away, but the black and pink one is bigger :) hee hee. Love you, Clara, get excited!!!

ps...sorry Adee...MarMar already made you one that I can't even get close too...that one's waaaay cooler, but don't tell Clara! :)

Things that BUG me tag...

K...my friend Kim tagged me, and I would have done it immediately, but I had to actually think about this one...not that it's hard to think of things that bug me, there is a long list, as Jeff will tell you, but for some reason I couldn't think of them!

In no particular order
1. Sopping wet feet on the bath mat
2. Motorcycles that drive so fast past you in the middle of two lanes--I want to open up my door one of these days and tag one of them! Stinkers
3. Thrown food on a freshly scrubbed floor. grrr
4. Dirty dishes patiently just sitting in the sink
5. Being splashed in a pool (I know, get over it, or don't get in the pool, but I just HAYT to do my hair!)
6. Garment tops that turn into tankini's when you're pregnant...and bottoms that don't come up far enough anymore, so the button on your pants leaves an extra deep indentation on your inflated tummy (where'd that one come from?) ps...thanks for the g-tops Cheryl!
7. Leaving the house with a beautifully manicured make-up job...minus the mascara. I do that ALL the time, and it stinkin' ticks me off soooo bad!
8. When the internet doesn't work-- I'm already cut off from the world!
9. Way too short of naps
10. Clutter--but I still have it! ahhhh!

See, I had to scrape some off the bottom of the barrel, when I know there are plenty of things that really bug...but, whatever.
Ten more people---anyone want to do it? Get after it-- it's actually kind of fun. :)

Curious George Makes Pancakes

Three days in the trenches...and it's getting a little old. What do you do inside all day, when you're used to spending at least half the day outside? Sheesh--Lake Michigan has formed it's mini-me right in front of our door...So, we're getting creative.

Max likes one of the curious george books...Curious George Makes Pancakes. So, I told him that for dinner, he needed to help me figure out how Curious George made pancakes. He turned to the correct page in his book where it's detailed, and for fun, I set it up like it was one of my cookbooks. Max was soooo excited! Just in case you don't know how to make a dang good blueberry pancake...this is how George does it...
Maxer helped me stir, and watched me put the blueberries on in a smiley face, just like George did. He was so excited that there were going to be blueberries in there--he's never tried them before!

Well, he likes blueberries (frozen, directly from the freezer) and he likes pancakes...but I had to cut around each blueberry--he wasn't about to touch them! weirdo!

Pancakes for Dinner! My Favorite! When Daddy's away, the Mice will play!

check and check

Of a very long list, I have checked off two more things on my 'list of things to do before Ivy arrives'!!! I am super excited about both of them!

Well, there's no way that I could remake the little canopy for my car seat: and navy blue and baby blue just don't go with hot pink and zebra print (that's what I made the carseat cover with.) Anyway, so my cousin Sherry sent me the link with a tutorial on how to make a 'Car Seat Tent.' I had never seen one of these...I guess I'm out of the loop...until this weekend, and when I saw one in person, I thought...oooooh, that's so fun! So: I hurried and made my hooter hider so that I could get busy on this project. I just finished it, like 2.3 minutes ago, and couldn't wait to post it...plus I'm making sure Sher knows that I really did do it!!! so fun!

My Car Seat TentFor those of you who are out of the loop, like me, you can either lift up the front (as shown) or the back, or just flip the handle down...I think it's a nifty solution to my lack of skills!!! Plus, I made the stinking cute fabric flower to adorn either strap...holy, I might die!Just smile and nod...I know I'm a freak, but I'm real excited!

Next on my list of things to do...First year scrapbook, Zebra Bib, Flower quilt for the wall abover her crib, Valentines for Jeff, Max and Max's local friends, etc, etc, etc.
Happy Sewing!
and Happy Pink Week, Sher!!!

Chalk...Classic.

Hi, I'm Max. I think I'm the dirtiest boy, ever... but it's pretty classic I enjoy lining up my chalk...it's called a parking lot.
I enjoy having my mom draw sharks and sunshines in every color we have...while I scribble over them when she's done.But best of all...the masterpiece that I find on my pants when I'm all done.
Don't be jealous, you can be dirty, too!

Scentsy

Hey all--
As most of you know, I sell Scentsy products, which are a safer version of Salt City/Yankee Candle Companys...instead of an open flame, we sell these cute little pots that hold a 60 watt light bulb, and hold an extremely soft wax in the little dish on the top, so as to let the most fragrance out as possible. I think they're amazing!
Anyways, the reason for this random post is that I have three Scentsy warmers just sitting in my closet bothering me. They are brand new, in the box and I just want to get rid of them. I'll even ship!!!

The three I have are Orchard: This is the one on the page below at the top left. It is cream colored and has two apples on the front. The next one I have is called Classic Scentsy Pink...It's the same as the picture shown below, only it's a pink color (a smaller picture is shown further down on the page...

The third one I have, is a discontinued warmer. I can take a picture of it, if anyone's interested, or curious, but it is a sports one and has footballs and baseballs and soccer balls all over it. It's has a beige base and says Go Team around the top of the warmer.

Anyways, you can have them for $10 each...If I need to ship them, it's still $10...it's worth it for me to get them out of my closet (space is valuable in HB!)

Anyways, either leave me a comment, or email me if anyone wants one. PLEASE!!! :)

ps...these are awesome nightlights, and they make the nasty 'nap/dirty diaper' smell go away...

psx2...good gift idea...

My Prized Armoir...

hallelujah! hallelujah!

...just got even more prized!!!

I bought this stinkin' awesome armoir from my friend Amy back in good ole' Maricopa, AZ...

Amy: it's probably my favorite thing I own, just so you know!

Anyway, the only bad thing I have to say about it is that it doesn't have enough storage for our movies...but superman, up the street, came to the rescue (shout-out to Kevin) and made a shelf that is uniquely stained to perfectly match the antiqued black finish and fits our Disney movie collection perfectly! I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!

ps, don't laugh, we still rock the VHS editions!, and we are p-roud of it!

Birdseed Biscuits

I found a fun recipe for these cute Birdseed Biscuits in my February addition of Family Fun Magazine (which always has fun ideas in it, by the way). So I thought we'd try to make them and hang them on this cute little tree we have outside.

We invited Jen, Berkleigh and Merrick to come over for the festivities, because it's always more fun to do kid crafts with more than one kid, and more than one adult! And, rather than doing a 'heart' biscuit, we borrowed our neighbor, Kristy's alphabet-shaped cookie cutters so we could spell their names (quite a feat for B &M, by the way). Plus...I didn't have a heart-shaped cookie cutter...

Anyways, so we got to work mixing up the nasty mixture, that both boys snacked on, oops...sick-nast! And we got to work stuffing the mix into the letters.

We stuffed straws in them, as we were told to do, and put them in the oven for an hour.

The kids had a pow-wow in front of the oven for a while to watch them cook

We took them out of the oven, let them cool, and then attempted to take the little birdie cookies out of the letters...but so sad, they crumbled apart. So, no harm done, we punctured some cups, wrote the kids names on them, and dumped the cumbled pieces of letter into the cups.

The kids carefully took them out to the little tree...
We hung up our cups and had a shake-the-tree party... So fun!!!

Don't be discouraged by our poor attempt at doing this project...we decided that the letter idea wasn't a good idea because it made the area around the hole too weak...I'm sure that if we'd had heart cookie cutters, it would have been great.. So, if you want the recipe, it's:

Mix together:

3/4 cup of birdseed

1 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp water

Spray or wipe oil and place it on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Pack the mixture into the cutter, inserting half a straw into the top to create a hole for hanging. Bake biscuit (with the straw) in a 170 degree oven for one hour. Let it cool. Remove the straw, thread a ribbon through the hole and hang it outside in a sheltered spot.

Try it and tell me if your HEART works!

Thanks for coming over Jen and Merrick and Berkleigh....we love to have you over to play!

PS, all you foul-weathered friends...aren't you jealous that we had a picnic outside today for lunch, and that our little tree is already showing spring blossoms...come over!!!

Car Seat Cover

Don't ask me how I did it...

Don't ask me to do it again...

But... I made my very own car seat cover!

I will gladly admit that I have NO idea how to read a pattern. A quilting pattern...sure, probably, unless it's something crazy...but a clothes/real seamstress sewing pattern. No shot. They have all those arrow marks and dashed lines and bold lines and fold lines, and you have to pin (pinning is the enemy)!

So, this was my project while I was at my mom's house in December. I got most of it done, but didn't bring enough fabric with me to totally finish it. So, while I've been holed up in my apartment today (since this is day one of potty training) I cut out the last piece and put in the elastic. Now I just have to figure out how to do the little canopy dealy for the top, since that didn't come in the pattern I have. woo hoo...but I don't think I could do that again without the supervision of a real person that sews!