We have had a lot of changes in our household.

We've moved back to the wet side of the mountains. Big N is in middle school. Little N is in her final year of elementary school. Big A is a big A. Yes, since I haven't been posting a lot of blog updates there has been a little A.

So, to say things are moving forward is the understatement.

I've taken a hiatus from work to care for Big A and little A. I've done some consulting now that she is healthier. That's been a nice change of pace.

Big N's Forceful Valentine's Day cards

Big N has a deep love for everything involving the combination of Lego and Star Wars. To be honest, it's a pretty cool combination.

This year he wanted to use Lego Star Wars and his Valentine's day theme. I wanted to avoid sending more candy to school. I came across someone else's neat idea and decided to change it just a little bit to tailor it towards Big N's tastes. Big N wanted to use a different character and I wanted it to fit to the photo paper we had on hand.

We used a plain sheet of paper as our back drop and I had big N arrange Obi Won how he wanted him to stand. We then took a photo using my close-up set where I made sure his face and light saber remained in focus. After adding some basic text, this was the card, text, and color combination, that Big N approved of.

With a little creative cutting of the cards, we had Big N write everyone's names on the cards and added our dollar store light sabers.

We have one very happy little boy and it was fun to spend some time crafting his Valentine's day cards together.

Big N's Last day of 2nd grade

Today was the last day of school for both kids. Both Pete and I took the day off so we could go to the assembly. Big N got a certificate for perfect attendance. He has had perfect attendance for the 3rd year in a row.

Worms in dirt on cupcakes

Little N is coming to the end of her year at kindergarten. When I picked her up today, she was taking her time leaving the classroom. This is a regular occurring event for Little N. She starts to chat with her friends, slowly puts on her coat, wanders the room in circles. She takes her time at school, she takes her time at home, I've tried rushing the girl, and sometimes it's just not worth the fight. We tend to pick our battles and give her plenty of time when we can.

Today, when she was done wandering the classroom, she chatted with her teacher on the way out the door. Since everyone else had already left, she had the teacher's full attention (perhaps she had a plan for her wandering). Little N suggested to her teacher that she would like to bring snacks for tomorrow. The teacher looks at me, raises an eyebrow as a question mark and I said, "why not." I, of course, underestimated Little N's grand plans.

As we were driving away from the school, Little N started to describe grandiose, flower covered cupcakes. It turns out that watching the food network can backfire on you. I had to break it to Little N that Mommy cannot make a frosting flower and I wasn't sure where we could find edible flowers as a substitute.

I suggested gummy worms on chocolate cupcakes, to which Little N suggested that we needed to make "dirt" for the worm to crawl out of. My super creative Little N thought of the chocolate graham crackers we have in the cupboard and the worms in the dirt cupcake was born.

This evening we made cupcakes. Little N did all the measuring and ran the mixer. Once we frosted the cupcakes, she put a worm on each cupcake and then dipped the top into the ground up graham crackers. She wanted the worms to look "dirty" and she was very successful. Big N helped, too. He was the official worm tester.







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The sites in Yellowstone

One of the first places we visited in the park was the mud volcanos on the west side of the park.


Both kids loved hiking through the mud volcano site. Little N listened well and stayed on the path, which made our lives a lot easier. Big N was pretty thrilled using my old digital camera to take his own photos.




Little N was not a fan of the sulfur smell that was prevalent at the geothermic sites in the park.




I harassed one of the other park visitors in order to get a rare photo of the entire family.




Later that day we stumbled across the Lower Falls at Yellowstone. This area appears to be responsible for the name of the park. It was spectacular to see.

Big N at summer string camp

Big N spent a week at the prep strings Summer camp here at CWU. Big N had the option to play the violin or the cello. He selected the Cello. He was been begging to play this since he attended the camp last year. He was disappointed that the early beginners during the school year only allows the kids to play violin, but he is holding out to play the cello next year.

I was very proud of my little man.





Prep stings information for anyone else interested is located here:
http://www.cwu.edu/~music/prep_strings/index.html

Seeing Thomas

Today Thomas the Tank engine came to visit Seattle, well, Northbend. The kids were thrilled! The major hit of the day, other than the ride, was the garden railroad display at the railroad museum. Big N would have stood there all day if we had let him.



The second big event was having Thomas run over some pennies. The kids thought that was pretty cool.





We are convinced that this may be the last year that the visit to see Thomas is a magical event. Big N enjoyed the visit, but it wasn't quite like the time we saw it when he was three.

Big N's end of year concert

Big N has been participating in the CWU early strings program. He's really enjoyed it and we've all enjoyed seeing his excitement. Granted, there have been days where the last thing he wants to do is practice, but he is still happy to participate. He received a medal for his 1st year of involvement at the last concert just last week.

Big N loves trains!

Big N received a train from his Uncle Brian for his birthday. We let him take it out on special occasions because it is more fragile than anything he normally plays with. This occasion warranted a song and dance.


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Big N's first lost tooth

Big N has been chewing on his hands for weeks. He finely determined that his lower front tooth was lose. Once we informed him that meant the Tooth Fairy would come to visit, he began to work on loosening the lower tooth every chance he got.

His efforts resulted in a positive result this morning. He found his tooth in his bed and has been bubbling about it all day.

We are now waiting for the Tooth Fairy to pay him a visit while he sleeps this evening. Big N is convinced that a first tooth is worth at least $10, but we seem to believe she will leave something in the $2 range. We will all have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out.

His Monster Tooth Pillow has already swallowed his tooth and is waiting patiently for the Tooth Fairy.

My little man

Big N tried on the tie and promptly made faces for the camera. He did look very cute in his Christmas bell tie.

Death of a tie

Big N has a violin concert, his first, tomorrow evening. In honor of the upcoming concert, I killed a tie. Sorry, Mom, this was a tie my mom gave to Pete a few years ago. He hasn't been wearing is because it was always a little too short. I put it to a much cuter use.



I planned on using a tutorial I came across on hideousdreadfulstinky's blog. The tutorial is really well written and I finished the tie this evening.

However, you will have to wait for a photo of the final product. My little man looks very sharp in a tie. Watch for tomorrow's post!

Sugar Cookies

Both the Ns and I made cookies on Saturday. The kids had wanted to do a rolled sugar cookie using cutters. I decided to try the recipe on the back of the last bag of sugar. I haven't found a sugar cookie recipe I really like, so this one appeared to be as good as any other.

There was a slight problem in that the dough was a drop cookie dough, not a rolled cookie dough. The kids were having no part of a drop cookie. They both wanted to roll out their dough and use the cookie cutters.

Little N hasn't quite grasped the concept of not overworking the dough, but she had a blast doing so. If it meant we didn't eat (or in this case, bake) half the cookies, she didn't seem to notice. Big N wasn't a fan of the sticky dough, but he was a fan of the edible cookies. As a compromise, we pulled out all the play dough while the cookies baked and all was right with the world.

I was quite happy with the flavor and texture of the cookies, so I will have to share the recipe before I toss out the empty bag.

Old-Time Soft Sugar cookies
Courtesy of the Fred Meyer bag of sugar

1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 egg 3/4 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon vanilla	2 Cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tspn baking soda 1/2 tspn salt
Cream together shortening and sugars. Mix in egg, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and stir into the wet mixture. Chill dough for about an hour. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Sprinkle sugar with cinnamon (or colored sugar) on top of the cookie. Bake at 400ºF for 7-9 minutes or until set.

NOTE
I do not keep buttermilk on hand. The best substitution I've found is to pour your milk into a glass cup measure and add a tablespoon of white vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes, and you have a great alternative to running to the store for buttermilk.

Love letters

Shhh.... don't tell the office manager where I work, but I gave my son a pad of post-it notes out of my desk.

He is making great use of them, leaving love post-its all over the house.

I didn't know how much I could appreciate a pad of post-it notes.

Big N and the violin

Big N has been taking the preparatory strings program at CWU and he's really enjoying it. He seems to find issue with the holding still part, but hopefully he will grow out of that at some point. He really loves listening to violins play, but prefers the music that also has someone singing.


Practice this evening

Big N's first day with the violin

Big N is participating in music camp through the local University. He is having a blast!

I love how he moves his knees while he moves.


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Pirate Day!

It is pirate day at Big N's kindergarten and he put a lot of thought into his outfit. He was a little disappointed that I couldn't sew him a striped shirt this morning. The boy has high regard for my limited skill-set with a sewing machine. He was ok with a plain white t-shirt, but only after reading his teacher's letter twice on the detailed description of what a pirate wears. He did insist that pirates would roll up their pants. He mentioned that all pirates had pet birds and we discussed why the poop deck might be called the poop deck.

His kindergarten teacher will have a BUSY morning.

Looking for Dinosaurs

We spent a day and a half in New York City and we were able to take the kids, my parents and my sister Jenny to the Natural History Museum. Little N was looking for the dinosaurs and she had a blast. Big N wanted to find the space ship. I think we were all completely worn out by the end of the day.



Little N's dinosaur teeth


Big N and Pete


Trying to find the space ship

Sewing Projects

I have been sewing up a storm lately. I broke my New Year's resolution and purchased some fleece for a jacket for the kids. Big N saw the clifford fabric while we were picking up thread for something else and begged me to make him something. It did not hurt that it was on sale, so I bent my rule a little bit and made him a coat.





I managed to cut out the alternating Clifford dogs such that ALL of the dogs in the front are upside down. The right side up ones lined up perfectly with every seam. Luckily, Big N is happy that he can look down and see Clifford. However, this was a learning experience for me on cutting out patterns.

I also made something for Little N and her doll. I used up some more of my scrap fabric to make a sundress for Little N and a matching dress for her doll. This one was fun to make. I had originally bought the fabric to line a hand knit purse. I used the yarn for something else and had the fabric lying around. This was a perfect use and a very happy recipient. I winged the doll dress, but I'm very happy with the overall results.

The little guy's 6th birthday!

Birthdays have become a week long festival in the Richmond household. First there is the party at kindergarten. This involves cupcakes and a poster all about Big N! Big N filled out all the questions and then spent a considerable amount of time going through photos to figure out which ones should be included. Teddy bear made the cut in 2 out of the 5 photos. A few days later, there was another party at the day care kindergarten. This also involved cupcakes. Big N wore a crown which has made its way to the shelf of his prized possessions. After all of that, the weekend continued the festivities a party limited to a few friends. This was held at the gymnastics club in town and it couldn't have been a better location for helping kids to expel energy. Finally, the week of festivities culminated with a party for family. This was the official cake event, which made it even more special for Nate.

Big N told me he had a very good week. Little N wants her birthday to hurry up and get here. Or, she would be happy with 4 days of chocolate cupcakes and chocolate cake.