volcano erupting

Ella and I attened the Half Pint Hullabaloo last weekend. I think her favorite activity was the station where they mix vinegar with baking soda to make a little volcano. She kept insisting we go back so I told her we would make a super cool volcano at home.

We walked in the door and she insisted we get started right away. Thankfully I had already scouted out plans for making a volcano at home.

First we made some salt dough...squish, squish


And then we formed the salt dough around a baby food jar (we used a stage 2 one that is taller). We made the volcano inside a baking pan, to avoid an overflow mess later.

Next we started adding ingredients. First we put a little water in the jar. Then added some food coloring (red of course). Then we added a few drops of dishwasher detergent because I had read this made a pretty cool effect. Here we are ready to make the explosion!

First the baking soda...

Then the vinegar...

And then a bunch more baking soda and vinegar.

Dad was in on the action too


The project turned out really well. I was worried we would need to let the salt dough dry, but it was pretty firm so we were able to have the eruption right away. Probably was about an hour start to finish.

Big Sister

So excited to share the news...

Ella is going to be a big sister!! Her little brother is expected to arrive in June!

It's been a busy summer!

Sorry for being MIA, it has been a very busy summer! Here's a quick recap...


In May we went to the zoo.

In June we went on vacation with my mom and nephew. We stayed at Massanutten Resort in Virginia. We visited Monticello - plantation owned by Thomas Jefferson and Luray Caverns. Both were very interesting and lots of fun, well except the part where Ella and I were kicked out of the Monicello tour. I don't know why they asked us to leave, obviously Ella was in a very cooperative and pleasant mood. They did let me go through with another group after our tour was over.

This picture does not do Luray Caverns justice by any means. It is by far the best caves I have ever toured. If you happen to be in the area I would highly recommend it!

This picture of "Reflection Lake" sort of not really captures the beauty of the place....seriously, it was gorgeous and amazing!

In July we visited Darren's parents in Wisconsin. Here we are harvesting peas from the garden.

In August Ella and Henry made mud pies.

And we picked blueberries...

Check out all of those blueberries!!

princess pjs

Ella is very into the disney princesses lately. So, I made her a princess nightgown. I had leftover fabric so I made some pants to go with it.

a day in March

It has been a very busy month in a hurry up and wait kind of way. It seems as though we have been dealing with a lot of sickness...nothing major but on-going where it just zaps the energy right out of you. Ella is finally on some antibiotics for an ear infection so hopefully she is back to feeling great soon (and we can be done with all the whining...please tell me the whining will stop)! In the meantime, she wants me to hold her all.the.time! She weighs 38 lbs.

This morning we made muffins for breakfast. The timer went off and I pulled them out of the oven and set them on top of the stove. I reminded her that the the pan was hot and turned to put something in the trash (do you see where this is going?)...and then I heard it...the shriek of pain. She touched the pan. (I've reread this a couple times and every time I read that last sentence it is in the voice of the fish in Finding Nemo..."he touched the butt") Her pointer finger has a lovely blister on it and we spent a good hour crying and whining and needing held.

From a parenting standpoint...I totally thought we were past this point! We have always had "safe zones" where she can stand whenever we open the oven and she has always been very careful and cautious - even when she was quite small so I was flabbergasted that she actually touched the pan, especially since I reminded her about it. I hope we learned the lesson this time!

Later we took a shower together. I gave her some new shower crayons that were a big hit. She's playing with the crayons, bar of soap, washcloth...what could go wrong? So, I'm happily washing my hair and all of a sudden I hear the shriek of pain again. Argh! What this time...her area hurts. Um, ok...so I rinse her off thinking maybe she has some soap irritation. Doesn't help but she calms down and we are done so I start to dry off...and she pees and starts shrieking. (seriously, I think I need earplugs some days). So, I turn on the water to rinse us/the tub off) and get us dried off. I'm not allowed to look or touch anything but it all hurts! We get dressed and head downstairs for lunch. (which I will make and eat while holding her)

To sum up our afternoon...we had multiple wardrobe changes and lots of shrieking. No idea what the problem was but by dinner she seemed ok.

We called Granny. I needed my Mommy and Ella needed her Granny so we talked her into coming over for the afternoon. It definitely made the day go much better!! She can live with me as far as I'm concerned. She has that special touch that just makes everything better!

More basement...

Something is missing...or rather, has been replaced! We finally decided to take the plunge into HD tv land.



We bought some wall sticker thingys for the play area. I was really worried about how hard it would be to put up and how it would look. Well, I think it turned out awesome. :) Ella saw it this morning and said "oh, it's boo-tiful!!"





Aside from ordering some photos to fit some frames and hanging those in the basement, we are done with this area. woohooo!!! Well, unless we decide to try and stain the coffee table to match the tv stand and fireplace.

Basement Update

Here is the new mirror over the fireplace. I would like it to be a little lower but the hole we are hiding is that high. The G cleft looking thing is a sculpture I bought in Ecuador and the checker board behind that is a chess set from Ecuador as well. The board is kept shut so the cats don't run off with the pieces, but we thought this would work for the display. On the right, there is a bowl that we picked up in Roantan (I think - eek!) and a vase from a local store (made in China - so can I say it is from China?). I want to get some sort of sprigs of something to put in the vase.

Here is the cut-out area. All fine artifacts from China.

Close up.

We have decided to get a new TV and TV stand as well. Eventually we will get new furniture too.

We are almost there...