Kiersten's Myseum party!

Kiersten decided to have her birthday party at Myseum this year. It was my first time there, though Ben had taken her there for a birthday party a while ago.

They loved this screen. They could move the images and cut them in half with pool noodles.

We had the party room for an hour. If we use this place again, I am going to request that they bring the gifts in for her to open. They took them as the guests arrived, and had them for us to take home at the end. We got done with the room 20 minutes early, and I would have liked her friends to see how excited she was about all the gifts they gave her, and to give her a chance to thank them in person.

She requested a minion cake for her party. I do have to admit that it is some of my sloppier cake making, probably due to my leaving it til the last possible moment to decorate. I should have spent a little extra for fondant or black frosting instead of using the sprinkles. They got all over the place. The next morning, after I made it, we all had little black spots on the bottom of our feet from all the sprinkles that got dropped on the floor.

She was happy with the cake, and I was kinda glad that it got eaten first thing, so people didn't have much of a chance to look closely. I haven't decided whether I will stick some candles into what's left of it on her actual birthday, or if I should make another small cake or cupcakes. Guess I have until tomorrow to decide!

They did a helicopter experiment, and once they were finished, they got to fly them in the big wind tube.

One of the most fun exhibits, is this shadow room. The kids stand in front of the wall, and their shadows get frozen there for them to look at for a couple minutes.

She had nine little friends at her party. They all had a great time together, and I was glad that they had so much time to play and explore. I guess it made up for her not opening the gifts.

I have a lot of pictures of Evie, since I spent most of the time following her around.

I didn't see much of Karalee. When I went looking for her, I finally found her in the baby area. (which Evie was kicked out of for being too tall...)

Wild animals!

Even I got locked in a cage. At least I was with some very nice giraffes.

Kiersten was pretty happy about these lollipops with her name on them. She can be pretty easy to please.

When we got home, we let her open all of her gifts.

She got so many fun new things, and had a pretty fun day.

fun at the Magic house

Evie and I went to the magic house last week while the other girls were at school. I much prefer being there with just one kid. And she likes that she gets to do the activities that she likes.

ringing the bell.

She loved Sid the science kid, which is a little surprising, as I'm sure she has never heard of him before. But, you know, a giant cartoon in person is always a little thrilling.

Though she doesn't watch his show, she had a great time in the new Sid the science kid area. It was her favorite part, and we spent most of our time in there.

Last night, Kara told me she wants to grow up to be a mechanic. Perhaps I'll have two mechanic daughters.



She always loves the pet clinic.

It was great being there on a Thursday morning. She actually got to use this pizza oven, which is usually overrun with older kids. There were several activities she was able to spend more time at, that are usually crowded and rushed on the weekends.

In the pretend bank, she sat down and kept saying, "this is my dad job", "I'm a daddy", and "I have to get a little dad work done now". She also took a phone call from "da boss" while she was working.

spying on the mice.

The kids always think it's so funny when I pretend that I can't tell the real kid from the reflections. She kept saying, "find the one that's moving, Mom!"

I thought I'd impress her by making a heart next to where she was working. When I asked what she thought, she said, "It's not that cool, mom".

She made paper lolly pops for her sisters, but I think we forgot to go back and grab them when we were leaving.

Just busy growing up

The girls have really been interested in trying new things lately. They are trying to grow up so fast, and I guess I kind of have to let them. For a school project, Kiersten was supposed to create a "career person" with background and tools that someone in that job would use. She insisted that she wants to grow up to be a pop star. It was a family homework assignment, so I made everyone help. Kara helped out a lot, Evie drew some faces of fans, and stuck on a few stickers. Ben drew a guitar for Kiersten to cut out and decorate.

Turned out pretty fun.

This weekend, Karalee asked me to teach her how to sew. I wasn't sure how she would do, but had her start with a purse. She caught right on. I am actually pretty impressed how straight her lines were. She goes pretty slowly, but I was able to get her to try sewing fast a couple times. But I could tell it made her uncomfortable, so for now she is sewing at a snail's pace, but with beautifully straight lines.

She did a great job! I almost feel badly that I didn't teach her sooner. I almost had her do a buttonhole, but decided to save that for another day.

She wanted to make something else, so I got out some fabric I've been meaning to use for a skirt for her. I kept it pretty simple, but she did have to sew a gather stitch. I asked if she'd like me to attach the waist band, but she wanted to do it. I fully expected to find holes that would need to be fixed, but she pinned the waistband on so carefully, and sewed so slowly, that she didn't have any holes to fix. There was one small flaw on her hemline, so I had her unpick about 2", and re-do it.

It turned out super cute! She couldn't be more proud of herself. It did take kind of a long time, so I made a bow for it to pass the time. 

I think it turned out pretty much as good as it would have if I'd made it myself. She wore it to school on Monday, and was happy to report that no one asked if it was home made. Apparently that's the test to tell if it looks good or not.

She didn't want to quit sewing, so she made a purse for Evie. I let Evie pick out her fabric, and she chose this fun pattern. I showed Kara how to do a drawstring, and now she is anxious to make something for Kiersten next.

Evie is the proud new owner of a red beta fish. She loves having a pet. She had planned on naming it "Lovely", but once she picked out her fish, and brought him home, she decided she'd like to call him "Bacon" instead.

She picked out pink rocks and a pink castle for his tank. She had such high hopes that he would live in the castle, but we told her he probably wouldn't go inside it. But her instincts were right. That fish spends 80% of his time inside the castle. I think he's still a little overwhelmed to be in such a big tank after his little cup. This week has been pretty full of excited reports on Bacon's activities. When she's not at school, she updates me every 10-15 minutes on his exciting activities. This morning when I went to wake her up, she was lying on her belly, with her chin propped up in her hands, and gazing lovingly up at the tank. She said, "shhh, Mom. I'm singing Bacon a lullaby"

On Saturday, Kiersten asked if she could make everyone breakfast. So I decided she could certainly try. We had some leftover bacon ends and pieces, so I put them in a pan and had her stir and break them up with a spatula. She did a pretty good job. When they were close to done, she got a little splattered, and asked me to finish for her.

She also made French toast. She got to crack the eggs, stir them up with the milk, and put in the cinnamon. I even let her dip the bread. She was afraid to get her hand too close to the griddle, and was sort of flinging the bread over. So I had to take that part over, and put the bread on the pan once she had dipped it. But she did want to try flipping them over all by herself. She did a pretty good job.

Enjoying her hard work!

On Monday, I told Evie I'd take her to the Magic house, but when we got there, I realized they are not open on Mondays until summer. She was heartbroken, so I tried to give her some other options of fun activites, but she said no to everything. No zoo, bowling, chuck e. cheese, ice cream shop, etc. I was surprised I couldn't talk her into anything else, but headed for home. After a few minutes she asked if we could do an art project. So I stopped at the craft store and let her pick out a project. She also got this cute little apron for 74 cents!

She picked out this cardboard heart box. She painted it red with purple polka dots, and then decided she didn't like the polka dots, and painted back over them with the red. She gifted it to Ben, but he asked if he could keep it in her room. She agreed, and is now keeping Bacon's food in there.

I needed a project to do while Evie worked on her box. Luckily, I bought this lamp that I love, but the shade was a little blah.

A stencil and a little paint, and I have a fun new lamp. I love how it turned out!

Last night Kara really wanted me to take a picture of her hair after she took out her high pony tail. When she was younger, we always called her "Kara Fawcett" because of her long, luscious locks. But I think it might be time for a new nickname. Any suggestions?