Family Fun

After I laid Lizzie down I walked into Krislynn's room to get her ready for bed this is what I found... david singing softly and dancing with our cute little girl.

Lizzie Birthday dress

Mommy and Lizzie

The girls of the house

Mommy and Krislynn

FHE Art Project #3

This week's art project is one of my favorites at this time of year: Handprint Turkeys!

1. Paint the hand of the child with multiple colors (fingers paint different colors, palm one color)
2. Let the handprints dry
3. Then draw in becks, eyes, and feet
4. Happy Turkeys!!!
   

A Family Tradition

One of my wonderful sister-in-laws,Marla, started this tradition who knows how ever long ago, and ever since we have been married we started the tradition in our own home. At the beginning of November you pull out a new blank poster and write "I am thankful for..." then each day you write something you are thankful for. Anytime a friend of family member comes over then they add what they are thankful for. It is a great reminder of the many things we are thankful for. Hope you start the tradition with your family!

Lizzie's latest and NOT greatest Artwork

Lizzie LOVES to color, but running late for Church and trying to get the girls ready and myself ready is a different story. Lizzie loves to play with her crayons. They keep her busy for hours. She will take them in and out of her coloring bag and line them up and put them away and do it for hours. Well I wasn't paying attention , and instead of playing with the crayons she decided to give our room some EXTRA SPECIAL artwork! I was not happy, but my friend Andrea came to the rescue with a Magic Eraser!!! Thank heavens for great friends!!!

Feliz Cumpleanos Lizzie

Birthday Girl Dora

Family snapshot!

Krislynn & Delaney talking about what they want for their birthday parties

Birthday Girl Marla

Birthday girl Lizzie

time to decorate cupcakes!

Davey & Marla

The birthday girls

Papa & Lizzie jumping in the Dora bouncer

Mommy & Daddy excite that the party was such a hit!

The ball pit was a bigger hit than the jumper!

time to eat!

Krislynn was excited for the party too!

The birthday girl and her best friend Mindy

Let the jumping begin!

(Ashlyn,Cameron, & Sierra)

Can you believe Lizzie is 2? These 2 years have flown by so fast. I remember holding her in my arms when she was born and it felt like yesterday. My girl is growing so fast and she has quite a personality. She knows what she wants and she can keep up with the boys, she doesn't let anyone push her around! This year we had a Dora Party and it was perfect since Lizzie looks just like Dora with her new haircut. Lizzie had a great time with all her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends.

(Thanks Holly for helping make this party a success!)

A Girl Named Krislynn

Krislynn is a happy baby that loves her: Daddy, Mommy, and sister Lizzie as you can tell from her bib. She loves to roll around and sit in the red beanbag. She loves to kick her legs, and she is going to be an awesome runner like her Aunt Shauna. She loves to smile and jabber about all her adventures with her big sister Lizzie. She loves her lovey pooh bear that her sister got her as a welcome to the family gift, but her super favorite thing to do is DROOL!

We love you Krislynn!

Black Apple Doll Named Happy

So the other day I was blog surfing again, and I came across these super cute dolls. I DO NOT hand sew at all, but I thought they were too cute not to try. So I piled the girls in the minivan and headed to Joann's to pick up some fabric. Lizzie had a little accident, but I wasn't going to drive all the way home get her some dry pants and drive all the way across town to come back. So I changed her diaper and put the girls in the stroller and away we went. I found exactly what I was looking for, and headed home. Then I went on The Marta Stewart website and downloaded the free pattern, and then started cutting and sewing. Let me just tell you sewing by hand takes FOREVER, and I now know why these dolls sell on Etsy for over $40.00. So after a couple major interruptions (my sewing machine breaking-does anyone know how to fix sewing machines?), and fabric fraying on me a little here is HAPPY! (Lizzie named her that because she is smiling) I made her Happy for her birthday, but she just loved her so much she had to get some play time in first before I hid her in my closet.

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

Krislynn loves Happy too, and wants Mommy to make her one too...

FHE Art project #2

Tonight we did another fun holiday art project. It is super simple and includes the whole family.

1. Draw a simple turkey body.
2. Each member of the family chooses a fun piece of scrapbooking paper and traces their hand for the turkey's feathers.
3. Cut out each hand, and cut out the turkey's body.
4. Glue each hand to the back of the turkey's body and...

Ta-da!!!! A super cool turkey treat!

Where did Steve from Blue's Clues go? Finally the truth!

Have you ever wondered what happened to Steve on Blue's Clues? I know I have... and my questions were FINALLY answered today when I was blog surfing on one of my favorite blogs Samster Mommy.

Did you know that Steve left the show since he was going bald? He decided to pursue his acting career (Steve & Mr Big in the same place?! I think my head might explode.And definitely to spend more time on his music, he's making a rock record with members of the "Flaming Lips". Now this is Steve.. Holy cow!!! Check this out and watch the documentary on Blue's Clues.

Cheesy Hash Skillet

What You Need:
6 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups (1/2 of 32-oz. pkg.) frozen Southern-style hash browns
1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6 eggs

COOK bacon in large nonstick skillet on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet, reserving 3 Tbsp. drippings in skillet. Drain bacon on paper towels.
ADD onions and potatoes to skillet; cover. Cook on medium-high heat 14 min. or until potatoes are browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese.
MAKE 6 small wells in potato mixture; fill with eggs. Top with bacon; cook, covered, 3 to 4 min. or just until eggs are set. Let stand, covered, 1 min. Super good!

Slow Cooker Enchilada Casserole

You'll need:
1 large onion, chopped
24 oz or so of green enchilada sauce (verde) (I used red)
1 bag of Tyson's frozen, cooked & cubed chicken breasts (I needed to keep it simple today, that kind of Tuesday)
1 bag mexican shredded cheese
soft tortillas (corn or flour)
sour cream

On low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours cook frozen chicken, enchilada sauce & onions in your slow cooker. 2 hours before it's ready you're going to add your layers. On top of the mixture lay 4" strips of the tortillas until covered, top that with shredded cheese then more tortilla strips and one more layer of cheese. 30 min before serving add a smooth top layer of sour cream.
Cut into the layers and serve over your choice of rice. Super Yummy!

Momma craftiness 101

So I wanted to be crafty some more, and went to my mother-in-law's SUPER SATURDAY!!! I had a great time visiting old friends and catching up with everyone. While I was there this is what I made... I think they turned out totally great! I have some more ideas brewing in my head that I want to bring to life... hopefully soon!

Lizzie's Artwork 101

So lately I have been getting excited about crafting again. As all of you know I love to surf blogs and see everyone creativity, and see what I want to try. Well the other day I was surfing Serving Pink Lemonade, and she had this cute art project for kids. Click here for the tutorial. Lizzie was super excited about the sparkly paint. I thought it turned out really well, so we framed it, and are going to hang it on the wall to show off all of her latest and greatest creations.

Momma got a new haircut!!!

So I have been wanting to get my haircut for a long time. The A-line was just way grown out, and it was bugging so bad because my hair is at Krislynn pulling level, and she is a pulling machine. I have been talking to my friend Bev about cutting my hair the past 3 weeks, and of course my life gets busy and I forget to call. Well yesterday at church we started talking about my hair, and I made an appointment right there.. no excuses.. just get it done! Well I'm cleaning my house this morning.. totally forgot I set up an appointment... and there is a knock at my door. I'm thinking.. who the heck is at my house? and there Bev was... at my door to cut my hair. Getting your hair cut at home, while your babies run around and play in the hair is so worth it... another fabulous adventure for the Parker girls...

Krislynn's Description of Halloween