As I may have mentioned once or twice, this is my last semester of school.
It also happens that my sis-in-law Jamiee is back in school now that my bro is all finished with his Masters (yeah John!).
This particular semester she has a class on M/W evenings. Between her mother and I, we are watching their girls on those days until John comes to pick them up after work. I'm super excited to spend Wednesday afternoon/eve with them every week, who knows where I will end up after I get finished with school and I may not be around this part of the world to see them all the time.
This week was our first Wednesday together and we had a good 'ol time! I don't have many children's movies so I ventured out Tuesday night to the previously viewed movie selection at the local movie rental store. I found Kung Fu Panda...and that was pretty much it. A pretty sad selection of children's movies indeed...although I did find Marley & Me and I can't wait to watch it.
So Jamiee brought the girls over about 3 p.m. and they jumped right into playing with my sad selection of toys. (I would get some more, but I have NO WHERE to put them. Maybe I should get rid of some stuff.) After mom left they found their cozy spots on the couch and intently watched Kung Fu Panda without interruption. These girls love movies, I am amazed at how they will watch an entire movie without hardly moving!
I was busy in the kitchen trying to get things ready for dinner and Claire was happily entertained with the toys all to herself.
Eventually Claire got fussy, (mostly when I had to stop her from chewing on my wooden shoes. Note to self: put non-chewables up high Wed. afternoons.) so she joined me in the kitchen to help with dinner.
I'm not quite sure why her mouth is open...I was trying to make her smile and she just stared at me like that for almost a full minute! And notice the doll in her hand? I think she thought it was a funny game to see how many times her aunt would pick up the doll after she dropped it. Jenna came in and started picking it up, but if I had any guess, that doll might still be on the kitchen floor right now.
Eventually the girls came to see if I had finished making the fruit dip and ended up staying long enough to give Monte a run for his money.
(found some fabulous color pages HERE)
Kung Fu Panda finished up just in time for dinner. So we ate (sorry...no photos, my hands were full.) and during dinner Abbi said "you're a good cooker!"...how sweet. Little does she know I am the worst cook I know.
Dinner that night was actually a pretty good go at doctoring an earlier in the week pasta disaster! It's amazing what a little Italian diced tomatoes, sour cream and diced chicken can do to pasta! Add biscuits, fresh sliced apples and pineapple with homemade fruit dip and you have yourself some mediocre tasting goodness.
I will say this, dinner was the hardest part of the evening. I'm no mom and struggled to keep food on plates or in mouths, the youngest from jumping out of her Bumbo chair, fed and happy (a particular challenge since she wanted nothing to do with her baby food) and making sure they consumed more than just pineapple (Jenna is crazy for fruit!) was hard work.
Not to mention I detest my kitchen. It is dreadful. It is small. It is dirty, no matter how hard I clean it. I HATE it. We may have to have a "picnic" or two on the living room floor!
After dinner we started our t-shirt project. I have been meaning (for quite some time) to make t-shirts for all my littles. I had this great idea for iron-on applique type decor and well...life took over and the t-shirts went in a box and never showed their empty head holes. That is...until my recent trip into the cavernous abyss of my closet. It was on this trip that I realized I own fabric paint! So I dug out the t-shirts and figured why not make "Stay at Aunt Kathy House" t-shirts?! A.K.A. "get dirty so our real clothes won't be ruined shirts. I know, I'm brilliant!)
Well, we started with names. Next week they will add their own touch and hopefully I can manage to let them to it by themselves. My house is just not kid mess friendly and it scares me. (I don't know if this paint would come out of my light tan couch.)
I did find these great foam boards in my cavernous abyss like closet, so we shall use those for all future sitting on the floor projects. (I have some rock animal ideas that will take glue and paint...pray for me!)
All in all I think things went great. It has got to cool off some so we can maybe take a trip OUTSIDE of this tiny apartment. And on some days I will go to their house, which will be nice too.
If you have any fun and relatively simple craft projects that you think would be entertaining, feel free to leave a comment with details or shoot me an email. I am not above taking a field trip if time permits, but we'll see.
For dinner next week they have requested taco's. This is no surprise, since a main staple of food in our family has always been Mexican cuisine. I am hoping to find some mini taco shells. Anyone know where I can purchase those?
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