Our Week That Stretched Into Two Weeks

I skipped last week, so this post has pictures from the last two weeks.

We went to the park so the girls could try out their new scooters from Zach & Heather.

Realized after we got to the park that I probably should have thrown helmets in the van.

But it was really nice to get out in the fresh air.

Yes, that's my son, riding the pink scooter.  And yes, he's chasing his sister on it.

She started swinging on her belly, and something went hilariously wrong.

Hey, look!  We've started doing some school work again!  Mostly spelling and math, but we're getting some history and geography and science in, too.

Katie and Hannah got new games for Christmas, so I got talked into a round of Hi Ho Cherry-O.  Mind numbing.

My mom got our little visitors backpacks for Christmas.

A new year is a good time to clean out the closet, right?  I pulled quite a few things out, since I've changed sizes recently.

I also worked on cleaning the sewing room!  I found a quilt top that I never did anything with and decided to finish it off.  I used spray adhesive (center) to make it sticky, then flipped it onto upside down Minkee, a super soft, plushy fabric, and then serged around the edges to trip the excess off.

Then I added a tan binding and one of my tags.  My plan is to donate it to Project Linus.  It's been in riding around in a bag in my van for a week.  [embarrassed look here]

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas.  I've made beans in it 3 times now, and I'm pretty excited to find a cheap and easy meal that almost everybody really likes.

Since Christmas is over, it's time to start thinking about Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, right?  I sewed this little dress using the Olivia pattern from Farbenmix.  I didn't have enough of the stripe fabric for the hood, so I did a collar instead.

The preschool supplies are getting a good workout around here, as I try to keep the littles occupied while we're working on school work.

Miss Katie made a lovely sail boat from an Art Projects 1 A Beka book that I've been trying to use up for at least 3 kids now.

I pulled out the pentaminos, but the mats we have to go with them are too advanced for our little friends.  And then I had a brainstorm.

I took a handful of pieces to the copier and made color photocopies of them onto cardstock and then laminated them.  This made very primitive, simple mats that they are able to match the pieces to.

Mmm!  More beans!  I have fresh cilantro growing on my porch, so that really makes them wonderful.

Katie's geography book has a few pages of puzzle cards, so I spent one nap time with the colored pencils doing prep work.

I had a few things stacked up to laminate, so I fired up the laminator and did a bunch of stuff all at once.

Here, Katie has all the puzzles matched up.  Eli helped me out by doing all the cutting for me.  He's a great part time TA (teacher's aide).  He gives spelling words and makes photocopies from time to time, too.

Another trip to Shriners this week!  This time, I took just Katie, and we finally left with a functional leg.

While we were waiting, I painted her fingernails.  She's only got 4 of them, so it goes pretty fast.  She was so excited to have pretty sparkle nails.  She couldn't wait to get home and show Hannah.

When we go to Shriners, we drive through "Little Saigon" where there are lots of different Asian stores.  We often stop at one of the Chinese grocery stores on the way home.  This time, we stopped at a different one than we usually do, and I found the Chinese candy that Brianna likes so much!  I didn't think we could get it here, so that was quite a treat.

 Zachary and Brayden came for a visit this week!  We played Risk.  I had never played before.  Beginner's luck, I guess, because Josiah and I wiped Sam and Paul and Zach off the board.

Our spelling passage this week was about Samuel Morse, so we watched a video about the history of the telegraph.  Then Paul explained the system of fire call boxes and pulled out a real piece of San Francisco history to share with the kids.

More preschool time.

Somehow, she didn't quite get how to use the hammer to pound in the pegs.

Eli made his very first omelet!  It was pretty tasty, too.  I had a bite.

And I made a batch of "hard boiled" (they're actually steamed) eggs in the instant pot.  They peel easily, and they turned out great.

This coming week should find us getting more back to normal--at least normal for us!  I've started taking the tree down, the Christmas candy has mostly all been consumed, and we're ready to get to work again.


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