Bunco and Crafts

So..... I came here today to post about what has been going on lately.  I looked through my pictures and it seems that all of my recent pics have been of my crochet and crafting projects!
I have finally got some photos taken of the boys' blankets I made for Christmas.  I'll put a few pics here (in another post) but the "overload" of pics I'll put over on the crafting blog.
For today, I will share with you what I made up for Bunco prizes for last week:

I made up a fresh batch of lip balm.  I was running out and needed a refill in all my various containers.  I decided to make a double batch and give them away (in new containers, of course!) as Bunco prizes. Here is the recipe, if you're interested.

I was looking around Pinterest and found some cute bookmarks.  They reminded me of the crocheted pumpkin bookmarks I made for Ajay's Fall Class Party last year, but these were made of felt, buttons and yarn.  This was my practice.

These are the four I made up to give away.  Pink and Brown, Black and Red, Blue and Green, Tan and White.

Here are the pumpkin bookmarks from last year.  (And here is a heart bookmark.)

The four prizes before being packaged - two Ferrero Rocher, a lip balm and a book mark.

 I had planned on making the bookmarks up for the boys' Valentine's Class Parties but I recently got a call saying there would be no parties.  Boo.  However, we will be having a Spring party so maybe I can make them up for that......

More random

A few more pics to share of random moments:

Ajay was pouting about something and then Alex got mad so he started pouting, too. Aren has no idea why he's "pouting" but he had to do the same thing the other two were doing.

Ajay and Alex both got to invite a friend for a sleepover.  We made up popcorn on the stove, put it into their own brown bags with a few M&Ms and put on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The next morning the boys were on the hunt for some fun.  Aren, as usual, was putting together his Thomas puzzle.  Alex, as usual, was doing Origami. 

Ajay, too, was doing some Origami but I don't know why he chose to sit on the floor.

On one his final days off from work, Biju took the boys to a fun place.  You buy tokens to use on games and earn tickets.  Ajay was lucky enough to hit the jackpot a few times and they had loads of tickets to turn in for prizes! Here, the boys are modeling their umbrella hats they "bought."

Aren has now figured out how to put this 35 piece puzzle together all on his own.  He asks for it at least once if not twice a day.  He also asks for me to take a picture every time he's done.  He helped me click this photo!

Alex got creative with his origami folds.  He made what he thought looked like a dart so he taped a target on the wall and threw his dart at it. 

A Celebration to bring in the New Year

To close out 2013 and bring in 2014 we asked our neighbors if they wanted to come over for some food and fun.  We had some fun snack-y type foods  for dinner then went downstairs to play some games. 

Games for all! Sequence at the adult table,

Sequence, Jr. for the middle children,

and I believe this was Chutes and Ladders for the older children.

After we put Aren down to bed we played a game called "Beat the Parents" - the parents won. 

Morgan didn't quite make it to midnight!

At midnight the boys popped some little champagne crackers. 

And right after that we were all done for the night!  Hello, 2014, and goodnight!

Christmas Celebration

Unfortunately, Biju's side of the family is too far away for us to visit.  We speak with them on the phone and via Skype whenever possible, but wouldn't it be nice to hop in the van and drive over to India??
However, we are lucky enough to hop in the van and visit my family.  It is a boring drive for the kids so we usually check out a dvd from the library for these trips. 

After our Christmas dinner but before gift-opening-time my Uncle Eddie kept the kiddos occupied by playing Bingo.  There were even prizes for them to win!  It was a great way to keep them all occupied and out of trouble.

After Bingo my aunt and niece played their flutes for us.  I had forgotten to bring my flute along so I just joined in the singing.  And then it was time to open gifts!

It was a long weekend and Aren conked out on the drivce back home.  He usually takes short naps in the van so I got him as comfy as we could get him in his car seat and he slept a full hour and a half!!

Friends!

Shortly after Christmas we stole a few quick hours from some friend's hectic schedules.  One family was in town for the holidays so we invited them over for a visit. The other family lives a half of an hour away but we rarely get together due to scheduling conflicts.
We were missing one friend, sadly he had to work, but other than that it was just like old times.  The kids played downstairs while the adults got caught up with what was new. 

The kids

Lisa, Kalinda, Angie

Ronnie, Biju

Christmas Activities - Gifts!

Here are a few gifts the boys recveived -

Aren was beyond thrilled when he saw his new Thomas jammies.  He didn't even want to wait to put them on!

The boys' gifts to Aren were - trains! 

Ajay's gift to Alex was a set of suction cup guns.  They work great on our front door!

Another fun gift the boys received was a big tent making kit.  It is like a big tinker-toy set that you can drape a blanket/sheet over! 

Christmas Activities - Cookies!

I wasn't really in the baking mood this year and I didn't make up a bunch of treats but one thing I knew I needed to bake were the Christmas Cookies for Santa!
On Christmas Eve day I finally turned on the oven!  I used this recipe for the cookies and then just made up an icing using shortening, butter and powdered sugar.

The boys got to mix the food coloring with the frosting inside the baggies.

Time to frost!

And Aren said forget frosting, I'm going straight to the eating part!

Alex and a gingerbread man.

Ajay and a tree.

Everything all frosted.  We don't claim to be the best artists but they sure did taste good!

Yum!!

Pre-Christmas Activities - Misc. B

More random photos -

Snow!  Time to play with the shovels!

The neighbor kids playing with the boys and the snow shovels - I think they were trying to gather the snow as it fell so they could make a snowman.

Typical Alex - making funny faces for the camera!

Finally, he calmed down for a "normal" photo during our game of UNO. (I think it took me 6 tries to get this one!)

Aren and his Thomas puzzle!

Ajay and Alex playing Checkers, Aren playing Memory.  Gotta love Christmas Break from school!

Pre-Christmas Activities - Misc. A

A bunch of random photos -

Aren with the bunny he received from Santa A....and stolen glasses.  (They are Alex's)

Alex wanted me to play my flute and then he wanted to give it a try.

Thanks to Pinterest I found a cute way to dress up the cheese sticks I took to Alex's kindergarten Winter Party.

Aren is reallllly into putting together this Thomas puzzle lately!

We had some playtime with cousins one Friday while their parents did some Christmas shopping.  The kids were in a fit of giggles when they realized this piece of toast looked like a bottom.  (Are you rolling your eyes like I did?)

Pre-Christmas Activities - Santa B

After we finished visiting with Santa at our church we drove over to the local roller skating rink. 
There, Biju's employee's club was hosting a Christmas Skate. 

They, too, had Santa, face painting and balloon animals.  Luckily, my boys had already had their faces painted and balloon swords so they were just focused on skating and we didn't have to stand in the long lines for the other activities. 

The boys are still new to this skating business but, since they're kids, they're catching on pretty quickly. 

Ajay helped Aren a bit ....

...but after awhile he handed him off to me so he could pick up some speed.

While I was out on the rink helping Aren, I got this pic of Alex hanging out, not quite sure if he wanted to get out there and risk more falls.

All three with Santa and the missus.

When we checked into the rink we were givin drink coupons - like they needed any  more sugar! - and they all got to sip on some fruit punch while taking a break from falling skating.