Getting ready for paint

After many days of mudding and sanding dry wall for the new room, we were all happy to start the nest phase in the room....painting. 

 Even though we are planning putting carpet over the hardwood we didn't want to get paint on it. So we picked up this white paper covering to put over the hardwood. We cleaning up all the stuff in the room we got to work covering the floor.

After we put it down the boys came in and thought it was like the best thing. The room was completely empty and they ran around chasing each other for a long time. I would have let them keep going and burn off all the extra energy but we needed to start priming. Although we thought if they were this excited about the white floor we could save money on the carpet! :) 

Ward fun run

Back in the end of July our ward always has a ward activity for the end of summer. Since we have been here we have had a picnic at the park and then swim in the pool. 

 This year they thought it would be fun to have a ward fun run before the dinner at the park. There seems to be a lot of active members in our ward and there was a really nice turn out for the run. They planned a 3K that wrapped around one of the parks near town. 

 Daddy really wanted to give the run a try so he ran while the boys and I were the cheering section. The boys haven't seen daddy run yet so they were every excited. It was a very hot evening and not much shade around the course so after daddy started they wanted to go and sit under the shade. 

 Daddy did really great and was the first one across the finish line. Although with the times that he has ran in the past wasn't exactly happy with his time, but we were still proud of him. 

Because the boys were sitting in the shade while daddy ran out in the hot sun they decided to accompany him on his cool down run. As you can see the grass looks pretty sad because of the drought this year so the boys were complaining about the grass being too picky and getting in their shoes. After the run we were all ready to eat and get in the pool :) It was a fun evening and we all had a good night sleep :)

Snow cone cupcakes

A few weeks ago Thomas found one of my Family Fun magazines and wanted to see if he could find anything fun to do. So he came across these snow cone cupcakes and really wanted to try them out.

 Thomas can be very impatient so when I told him we could do it over the weekend it was all I heard for the rest of the week. I had many many reminders throughout the week that we were going to make the cupcakes on Sunday for our Sunday treat.  

 I think by Sunday came around we were all happy for different reasons that we could finally make these cupcakes. I had him pick out what kind of cake he wanted and help me mix the ingredients. After the cupcakes cooled we frosted them and used the green and blue sprinkles to make them look like a classic snow cone. 

I did happen to have some snow cone cups that I was not planning to use. The cupcakes were a little small so you really couldn't eat the cupcake out of the cone. But because the in the picture they were in the cones he insisted that they were in the cones as well. So we did and they were all smiles ;)

Summer project

I realize I am very behind on my blog and now that Thomas has started school summer for us at least is over. But this was a pretty big project that we took on and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel :)

 Back in June Eric and I decided to take our guest room totally gut it and start from scratch. It would then become their new room and the guest room would move over to their old room. Like any home improvement project it had its fair share of challenges. 

 After we put up the new dry wall we where pretty excited to see the wall versus the studs. The boys were so happy to see the white walls as well but wanted to know when it was going to be green and blue. 

So to help us along with the dry wall mud they wanted to help sand. They always want to help and this is a great thing for them to help out with. So we gave them each a little sander and put them to work!

Just for the kids

As you can see from the multiple post, there was a ton of things to do at this place. The kids could have been in this inside part for hours and would have been more then happy. And they had comfy chairs and couches for the parents. 

 Around the corner from the science part was more of a lets just play and have fun area. A train table is always a big hit with these boys and the first thing they went to. It was neat because they had a little booth off to the side where you could send a telegram to where you wanted to a person you were going to meet at the station. It had the letters on the line and dots so you could tap a "message". 

 It seems where one went the other followed. Next they tried building a log cabin and trains out of wood. Surprisingly this activity was short lived for them as they seen the little store they could "work" at or be a consumer at.  

 They thought it was fun because it was it had a lot of fun stuff that would have been in a dry goods store in the 1800's. So trying to explain why it didn't look like Wal-Mart was a fun conversation between us ;)

 They had a lot of wooden toys that the boys liked to play with and gave Daddy lots of ideas for some woodworking projects. Here they wanted to dress up like prairie boys and have hot chocolate. I guess they forgot in the A/C that it was over 100 degrees outside so hot cocoa was just fine ;)

 Next was the workshop this was a highlight for all the boys ;) Since the tools are meant to be played with by little ones they were all reproductions made out of wood of what type of tools they would have used. So it was nice just to sit back and watch them discover and play with the different tools. 

 Thomas did attempt to make a wooden wheel out of all the pieces. He started out pretty good and then saw other things, so Mommy finished it for him. 

We actually stayed about an hour and a half after gramma and papa left and could have stayed a lot longer. There was a ton to do here and the boys had so much fun learning about the past. With all the activity of the day it didn't take long for either boy to fall asleep. We let the boys get a little something from the gift shop and Sup picked out this little tub of farm animals. He was so excited to open it and play with them on the way home. I think he emptied he bucket and didn't have much energy to spare. I don't think we were even out of Indy yet when I looked back and seen him sleeping with his face in the bucket. 

Inside at Conners Prairie

After lunch we headed into "museum" part of the prairie. They had a ton of fun things for the kids to play with and learn about. It was a good distraction for the boys as well because Gramma and Papa had to go on their way. 

 After saying goodbye the boys got started with building a crane out of the legos. Daddy found the book and told them what pieces they needed step by step. 

 The boys had a lot of fun with the legos and their cranes turned out great! Although I don't think Sup's lasted very long before he took it apart. 

 The section was a science section so they had a lot of fun things for the boys to look at and try out. Of course anything with cars is a big attraction. So they had fun putting the cars on this ramp and watching them zig zag their way down. 

 Thomas tried out this music maker I guess I will call it. It is kinda like one of self playing pianos, only you have to turn the crank. The little wooden pegs can be moved to make different tunes and when you  turn it the long wooden sticks hit the pegs and play the different tunes. 

While Thomas was at the "piano" Sup was more interested in trying to make all the dials spin. He wasn't able to get them all to spin at table but got half of them to work, not bad for a 3 yr old :) 

Conner Prairie-- Part 2

Our nest stop at Conner Prairie was into Prairie Town. It was a town that was set up just like it would have been in 1836. There was a lot to do and with the heat and time that Gramma and Papa had we only saw a small part of it. 

 They had a fun little game that you participate in when you first entered the town. You spun the wheel...the one Thomas is in front of in the picture. The wheel gave you what you "job" you would have, Thomas landed on farmer. 

 After you had your job you got a card with a list of things you would do as a farmer in back in 1836. This would take you around the town as well and allow you to learn about what it be like to live in 1836.  

 The first place we stopped was the garden. They had an old fashion pump that you had to pump your water and fill up your little buckets and then go around and water your plants.  

 Thomas did not want to use the little watering thing (have no idea what its name is) that you put on your neck. He said it was too hot so then enlisted Papa to carry the buckets...lol.. somehow I think he would have used this excuse many times back in 1836 ;) 

 Sup on the other hand loved this part of the town. If it was cooler I am sure that he would have been harder to get him to go. Unlike Thomas he was willing to try the water carrier. 

After water with the time, heat, and hungry boys we were not able to much in the else in the town. We stopped by and seen some more farm animals and then headed to have some lunch. 

Conner Prairie--part 1

Conners Prairie is an interactive history park on the outskirts of Indianapolis. Because they were closed on Mondays we decided that we would go on Tuesday morning and then Gramma and Papa could leave from there. 

 The prairie was a huge place with a lot of fun things to do and learn about all based in the what Indiana was like in the 1800's. They had both an outside part and an inside part. We decided to see the exhibits outside first hoping to escape the hotter part of the day. 

 The first stop we made was to the indian village. They had a few huts that you could go in and look at.  The boys decided that the "beds" didn't look very comfy. It was either straw on the ground or sticks on straws. 

 Next we stopped by the barn. They had your typical barn animals but it was cute to see all the babies they had. It took the boys a little time to come and see the babies but it seemed that Sup liked the baby goats and Thomas liked the baby sheep. 

 The next stop was William Conners home. Not that there was A/C in the 1800's but we were pretty happy to get out of the 100 degree heat in touring the home. It was fun to see and learn how he had lived and made his living right here in Indiana.   

 The boys were a little intrigued with the spinning wheel and this lady was amazing at spinning the wool. She was very knowledgeable and had hand spin just as they would have back in the 1800's. 

We made a quick stop to see how they made anything out of metal, they would melt the metal and put them in different molds. It was really neat because if it came out of the mold not completely right you just pop in back in the spoon, melt it again and put it back in the mold. 

Headbands

Thomas really likes to play board games so for Christmas Eric and I thought he would like the Headbands game. He really like to play this game so we thought that we take it along with us to the hotel to play with Gramma and Papa.  

 After we got settled in ate dinner and swam in the pool we decided to break out the game and give it a try. It was nice that there were six headbands so we could all strap one on our heads. 

 If your not familiar with the game you put a card on your headband...without looking at it... and you go around and ask yes/no questions to figure what you have you your head. If you play this game with Thomas you can usually figure out really quick what you are. What he does is looks at what someone else has on their head and asks, " Am I a hamburger?" and then you know that You have a hamburger on you head. Lets just say we got a lot of laughs when we played. 

Sup at first didn't look at the card but he would hurry and run to the mirror and see what he had and then run back to us and say what he was. Apparently he thought he was being pretty clever, because he was following the instructions and not "looking" at the card ;) 

Russell Stover's

Because Gramma and Papa had things to do in Michigan we decided that on Monday we would head up to Indy and spend Monday and part of Tuesday with them. There are lost of fun things to do in Indy so it was a fun little adventure. 

 On our trips back and forth to Michigan there is this billboard that always advertises this Russell Stover's candy store. Because of my love of chocolate this place had obvious interest to me. Usually because of time and just wanting to get from point A to point B in a certain amount of time we have never stopped. 

 Since this was a leisurely adventure we thought that this might be a good opportunity to stop and see the chocolate/candy store. It also had the draw of free samples so I think we were all excited to see what kind of goodies we could find. 

 There are a lot of candies that I didn't know Russell Stover's made so the selection was nice. Also it is also an outlet store so the candy itself was really cheap. It didn't take long for the boys to find the free samples ;) After looking around once we let the boys pick out a little something to try. 

As Eric and I were looking around there was a point were Papa was in charge of Sup..... this is no easy task ;) Well Sup caught on quick that he could only put one thing in our basket and make him put it back. But if he put it in Gramma and Papa's cart it stood a better chance of possibly getting to the counter ;)

Sunday treat

We had a few days to visit with Gramma and Papa before they left for Germany so with some encouragement from my dear husband I decided to make these treats for Sunday... cake in a jar. 

 Because we had been canning all day and had to mess with our silly air conditioner on a 100 degree day I was not all that excited about making these, but I am glad we did and were a big hit. With some help I joined up with the ever popular Pinterest, and have probably spent more time then I should some days but I have to admit people come up with some great ideas. 

 So I came across this cake in a jar idea. Apparently it is pretty popular although I had never heard of it. This particular one was actually pretty simple because it was just with a boxed cake mix. With the 100 degree days I try to use my oven sparingly, and this used the microwave....perfect for something quick and simple. I was a little skeptical of cooking cake in the microwave but it beat using the oven (but it turned out just fine :).

So I took a chocolate cake mix and mixed it as the box instructed. Then was scooped I think it was a 1/2 cup of batter in to a pint jar....we used both wide mouth and regular didn't make a difference in cooking but the wide was a easier to eat out of. Pop one jar at a time in the microwave to about a min until it was cooked through. Then I took out half of the cake put a scoop of Nutella and then whipped cream. Then put the other half of the cake on it and another layer of Nutella and whipped cream. Topped it with some chocolate shavings or the boys wanted dinosur sprinkles and your done! It really was pretty yummy. The recipe used frosting but I think the cream worked better and helped lighten it up a little. Make sure you have a glass of cold milk and it is a great little treat!

Kids fun run

After my run they also held a free kid fun run. The boys have been getting better at these and I would venture to say that Sup enjoys them more then Thomas. We are still teaching Thomas just because you are not first or the best at something doesn't mean that you can't still have fun. 

Before they got ready for there race, Daddy showed them some stretches. Sup thought they were great, Thomas more or less complained about them. Not that they really needed them for the little run they were doing but it's good practice;)

 Of course just as they were going to start the kids run it started to sprinkle again. This didn't bother Sup one bit. And this little boy can run for anyone who has seen him or who has tried to keep up with him you know ;) Daddy seemed to give him a good little pep talk cause when they said go he was off!

 Thomas' race was right after Sup's and at that point the rain was coming down much harder. Thomas was a little more bothered by the rain but it could have made him run faster ;) 

When the boys crossed the finish line they were given a medal and they also got a free t-shrit. Although it was an early morning and a last minute activity we all had fun.