Day 551 | Drawing

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Painting time with Mary Catherine today. The blue one is Chase's space ship and the red on is Mary Catherine's. Adorable, I know.
Chase's interest in writing and drawing has really exploded over the last few weeks. He went from never wanting to color or paint to being interested every time I ask him...and he even requests it sometimes. So interesting.

And he's practicing his letters now, too. It's about the cutest thing ever. He's really mastered the "M" and can write a bunch of other letters too (but "M" is his favorite). I'm sure this budding interest comes from activities he's doing at school, but they definitely don't push practicing letters or writing on them. The process to teach writing is quite fascinating, isn't it? 

Day 549 | Becoming a Dalmatian

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You didn't think I'd overlook a friendly DIY guide for our favorite Dalmatian, did you? Here goes:

What I used:

  • a gray sweat suit (separate hoodie and pants), inside out
  • black flannel for spots (the flannel glued to the sweatshirt easier than felt would have)
  • black felt for the ears and tail 
  • stuffing (for the tail)
  • black thread (for minimal hand sewing)
  • fabric glue
  • ribbon for collar
  • old pet tag (or make something that looks like one)
How I did it:
  • Cut out a bunch of different-shaped spots and lay them out on the sweatshirt in an appealing pattern. Maybe you noticed that I started out spacing the spots evenly (see photo above), but ended up clumping them a bit more. I was much happier with that layout.
  • Use the fabric glue to adhere the spots. Don't go too heavy with the glue application or it'll seep through the felt fabric.
  • Cut ear shapes out of the felt fabric and handstitch them in place (the glue isn't strong enough to handle this job).
  • Cut a skinny cone shape out of the felt for the tail and hand sew up the long edges. Then add stuffing (not too full) and hand stitch the tail to the bum of the sweatpants.
  • Finally, attach the ribbon to the neck of the sweatshirt to act as the collar. Instead of handstitching the ribbon all the way around, just tack it on there with one stitch at each opening and one in the middle (where you'll add the tag with one stitch, too).

Day 548 | Becoming a Firefighter

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Interested in a quick DIY guide to creating your own firefighter? Keep reading to see how I transformed a few of Chase's clothing items into a pretty awesome costume.

What I used:
  • an old raincoat (could you tell it was a *bit* too small?), but I tucked the hood in so it disappeared
  • a pair of gray windpants 
  • silver reflective tape (seemed slightly wider than duct tape, but that would work)
  • skinnier black tape (I used a Gorilla brand tape)
  • a fireman's hat (ours was white, so I also had to buy red spray paint...per my little own's request)
  • pair of toddler suspenders (I found a really cheap pair at a consignment store)
  • navy shirt (I just used a regular graphic tee inside out)
How I did it:
  • Use the silver tape to add two stripes to the body of the jacket. Then add the black tape on top of the silver. Fold the arms over the body and add a stripe in the same location as the body so that they line up. Add a similar stripe to the bottom of each leg of the windpants.
  • I also added "DCFD" on the back of the jacket with the black tape for some extra flare.
  • For the suspenders, I added a tape stripe as well. Just brings them into the costume a little more.
See? Super easy! And...no sew. Even better. My sweet boy loved transforming into the firefighter he dreamed about.

Day 547 | Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

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Chase had his first field trip today! And Robbe and I tagged along for the fun. Slightly behind the pumpkin holiday, we headed to our favorite pumpkin patch to continue the fall celebration. 

Chase got to ride his first "school" bus (but it was a charter bus, for the record, which he was pretty bummed out about initially). Robbe and I met him there for some pumpkin picking, apple eating, outside playtime, and one giant slide. Chase went down the one on the right in the photo above. He asked to do it. Solo. I was shocked!

There were some tired 3 year olds upon returning to school. Some of them were still asleep during pick up. Big day for these little guys.

Note: Sorry for missing a post yesterday. It's been a week of continued recovery and catch up and upon falling into bed last night, I just didn't have the energy to add a post. Please forgive me!

Day 546 | Pumpkin Pancakes

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In case you can't tell, that's a pumpkin. Chris tried to convice the boys it was a ghost. Nope, definitely a pumpkin.

These are yesterday's pancakes. I had no intention of highlighting a day-late breakfast recipe, but it was just too good not to share. I have a feeling there will be a bit of catching up on blog posts this week since I'll write up quick descriptions about how I made both the boys' Halloween costumes, too. Hope that's ok!

Here's the

pumpkin pancake recipe

I found. They are super delicious with just the right amount of pumpkin flavor.

Two changes I made:

  1. I doubled the recipe. I've got two growing boys to feed!

  2. I left out the nutmeg. Chris isn't a fan and they definitely didn't need it to be yummy.

And I did include the brown sugar. I just didn't want to risk ruining them on

the

 pumpkin holiday. Next time I'll definitely try to cut back or cut it out entirely, but I'll say something made the pancakes extra delicious...I'm not above admitting it could have been the sugar.

Day 545 | Happy Halloween!

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Sweet Robbe was the perfect puppy (a dalmatian, to be exact) and Chase was a friendly firefighter (after deciding he wanted to be a person, instead of an animal, this year).

I wouldn't say everyone was feeling 100% today, but that didn't keep us down. Two short Halloween outings to take advantage of a beautiful fall day was just what we needed. We're hoping tomorrow greets us with an extra bit of sleep and everyone healthy.

Day 540 | Pumpkin Craft

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I was feeling inspired last week and got out some clay for the boys to make these sweet pumpkins. We went on a scavenger hunt for the "stems" and then rolled the clay into balls, smooshed them into a flatter circle, and used a paintbrush to make the ridges around each pumpkin. It was the perfect length craft for these two busy-bodies to stay interested in. 

And, four days later, we painted our new friends orange. Both boys really got into the painting. It makes me think I should suck it up and let them make the mess more often. Maybe that'll be my resolution for the New Year!

Day 539 | Three Year Old Pumpkin Dreams

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It was pumpkin madness around here today! Pumpkin carving, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cookies. Halloween here we come!

You might be curious about our pumpkin designs. Chase requested "a snowman" and "Paw Patrol". This is what we came up with. I usually do a cat pumpkin (do you remember?) so the paw print wasn't too much of a stretch for me but the snowman was definitely out of Chris's normal carving subjects. We feel pretty happy about how they both turned out.

Day 534 | Baby Gifts

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Check out my latest gifts for two sets of dear friends who just added little ones to their families.

In case you're new to the blog, this is the same technique for faux-screen printing I've used many times before. Here's the first time I did it with a tutorial included.

I have to say, now that my boys have worn their own shirts that I've created over and over, I'm beyond pleased with how well these designs survive the wash and wear (*repeat*) of a toddler's lifestyle. The fabric paint undoubtedly outlives the amount of time the boys fit into the clothes!

Day 533 | Culture Queen

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As promised, I gave the Busboys and Poets music class another chance. I went assuming it would probably be the same scene of chaos and uninvolved caregivers but was quickly proven wrong. Today's performer really wrangled in the crowd and forced participation...my kind of scene!

The Culture Queen was great. She was exuberant and stayed in character throughout the 1.5 hour show. An impressive feat to be sure. Robbe (and I) enjoyed the dancing, reading, exercising, singing, tambourine-playing, learning, and everything else. Thank you, Culture Queen, for a worthwhile morning outing.

It turns out the Busboys and Poets events have hope after all. I'm happy to say, I'll be back.

Day 532 | Takoma Street Festival

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We made it back to the Takoma Street Festival for the second year in a row: we're regulars!

We sampled some farmers' market produce (and even found some Cortlands to buy...the best!), crafted a bit, bounced in the jumpy castle (Robbe's first time...and he loved it!), did some Christmas shopping (yep, I'm a planner), listened to a kids concert, and just enjoyed the overall atmosphere. It's good to be home. 

Chase concluded the morning stroll with, "I liked that festival." Me too, buddy.