Batman Cake

So I had an idea to do Addison's birthday cake with a crown, after all we are having a princess and knight party for her birthday. I wasn't sure how to pull it off though in the ways I've done cakes in the past and buying her cake didn't seem right (the boys have each had their birthday cakes made and seem to like them). Then I thought too bad we don't eat fondant...then I thought of marshmallow fondant and wondered if it tasted better. And we still haven't found a cake recipe we adore...which meant I would want to practice. The good thing is, the people at Mike's office apparently scarf up baked goods...so I could bake and it would get eaten but not all by us - perfect! Last week was the first go, the cake was good (just yellow though) and the fondant was much tastier. However, it was too thick and odd colors (not sure what I was thinking) and the decorations were moons - just odd. This week I thought I would try a Batman cake, I saw one somewhere that looked simple enough to try and recreate. Noah was excited at the thought and excited to see it done. I think the fondant was much thickness wise but I still need to work on scale. Oh well, Mike will take it to work tomorrow and I doubt anyone complains too much as long as it tastes good. Next up may be the actual princess cake practice....I think Mike will look "so cute' carrying that into work ;-)

We had a pretty relaxed, yet busy weekend. We didn't get to do as much as we had planned due to my foot (oh so annoyed with my lack of taking care of things for myself and ending up spending 2 days on the couch!). Saturday morning we decided to go for a drive through the neighborhood simply because there have been numerous garage sales it seems every weekend. We have been wanting some shelves/armoires of sorts in the dining room. I would love to have the boys' school boxes in armoires and put away but easily accessible, as well as things we use on a daily basis. We also want to build/find a kids' table and chairs for the dining room. And we had to leave many of the big and outdoor toys back in Bellevue since we simply didn't have room in the truck, so were hoping to find a climber/slide for the kids. These have been the random things we've kept our eyes out for and we found them all this weekend! I was so excited. We got a climber and four chairs at one garage sale and then found matching armoires for the dining room at another. Mike also found some kid golf clubs (not a full set, I think there are 4 or 5) for like $2 which is perfect to introduce the boys (and Addy when she is bigger) to golf if they want. We probably looked a bit funny, Mike drove around with me and the kids riding but not getting out. Oh the boys did get out to try some scooters - which we ended up taking home too. So then we got to work this weekend on the kitchen for Addy and starting to fix up the chairs. I wasn't thrilled with the pencil look they had and they definitely needed a redo for paint.
We really did get a good bit done, amazing how much you can do sitting down =) which I did a lot of. There's a hole in the kitchen for the sink and now it is fully primed (minus the oven door). The chairs are 90% primed as well. We picked some colors (chopped chive for the kitchen and a bluish color for the chairs and armoires). We also I think figured out a way to repurpose one of the tables that was in the basement in Bellevue to make the kids' table. Some 4x4s and 1x3s should create a solid base which we'll paint to match the chairs. We also went to small group tonight - so it was a busy but good day.

Pain in the Heel

So bit of background - when we left TX (umm...over 5 years ago!) I had a doctor wanting to operate on my feet to remove my heel spurs. Well we were moving and it didn't seem a good option to devote 8 weeks (4 per foot) to just resting for my feet when I can live with the pain. Then we got pregnant and Mike was deployed fairly often and we were pregnant and then pregnant and there were deployments thrown in - so really never a good time. Last weekend we were talking about how my heels were feeling worse and I probably should call the doctor. Well, then there were issues with Addy's hearing test getting done and my focus immediately went there. Thursday night I was in so much pain I almost had tears when I was trying to walk. I couldn't put any weight on it. So my the time I made it through waiting for the appointment line even though I called right when they opened there were no appointments. I ended up going to the ER - thank goodness for Kristin who brought her 3 boys here and kept my 3 loves so I could go alone, Mike had meetings all morning. So 3ish hours later I left the ER after x-rays, confirmation that I had "impressive" heel spurs for someone my age, some oral steroids, some good pain meds, a wrapped left foot, and several lectures on not wearing flip-flops I had a referral for podiatry as well. I was told with how inflamed the foot was right now I needed to keep it wrapped and stay off of it as much as possible for the next 3 days. YUCK! Thank goodness Mike is home and it's the weekend. I am good at simply sitting and having 3 kids running around it's hard to sit even with help, but I'm going to give it my best to sit, sit, sit. I'm going to do some planning for our next week for school and gathering ideas/resources for upcoming weeks I guess.

The other big news of the day - Addison mastered the straw today! Well she finally was able to get several drinks from a straw, guess we'll see if really is mastered. I hope so, that will make eating out much easier (she wants to use a straw like everyone else but got frustrated).

Oh and Noah had a theory this morning on what was wrong with my foot. He put on his doctor costume and got the doctor's scissors, examined my foot and said "there are guys in your foot throwing swords. Don't worry Mommy, I'll cut it off and take the guys out. Then I'll glue it back together but you have to wait for the glue to dry." This afternoon he clarified further that it was pirates in my foot. I love his imagination!

This week we learned about the moon, did lots of reading, lots of sequencing, counting, and some crafts. The boys have both been excited to see the moon at night and inform us that it's a crescent moon. We're going to continue with the space theme next week and learn more about planets and the sun, should be a fun week!

Pool Fun

Monday night I was finally able to find goggles for the boys who have been asking for most of the summer. I had been able to find the masks but didn't want to get those, some pools won't let you use them if they are masks (the thinking I believe is that it is harder to administer CPR if need be since you'd have to take those off) and I found a couple pairs that were over $15 a piece - again not really what I wanted. I was at Target and found Spider-Man goggles for them both and they were so excited! It was later Monday evening though so we had to wait until Tuesday afternoon to hit the pool. Noah has really gotten much braver around the water and really seems to enjoy being in the pool - big or little. He's putting his face in the water and really trying to swim. We missed the swim lessons on base by a week unfortunately. At his age, I didn't want to put him in lessons until he showed he was comfortable and would willingly put his face under water. We may try lessons at the YMCA this water after soccer but for now we're just getting as much pool time as possible. Thought I would share a few pictures from our adventures Tuesday evening.

I almost forgot one story I wanted to share. Noah and I were in the "big" pool and had lots of fun playing - we played tag, and monsters and then Noah wanted to play "Red Light, Green Light" when he decided to change the game. Instead of just red and green lights we had red, green, and blue lights. He told me that the blue light meant I had to swim under water. Such a creative little boy =).

And She Stands...

We are really enjoying our summer, there are many evenings spent outside playing, days at the pool, and lots of walks to the playground after dinner. It has been so good. Last night it was a really, really nice evening - it was cool and just felt great. Mike spent time outside with the boys and Addy in the backyard with the Buzz Bubble Blower. Everyone was having a great time. I stayed in to cut out patterns for knights' armor (well kind of) for Addison's party (she's having a princess party but all the guests are boys, so it'll be more Princess and Knights lol). I got a couple of phone calls and was chatting enjoying the peace and quiet when Mike comes in and yells, Addison just stood up. She was just sitting on the patio and went from sitting, to squatting, to standing and held herself standing up for a while. She of course has not repeated the feat just yet, even though I've been trying. I was sad to miss that first for her, but excited that Daddy got to see a first - since sometimes he's not home when they happen. She's a cruising machine and has been for quite some time yet she hasn't seem interested in taking steps even if you hold onto her hands. I'm curious if the standing will be a new challenge and lead soon to walking. No rush from me or Mike - we're enjoying her baby years - the last of our baby years.

The Start of Addison's Kitchen

These are the "plans" I have in my head, we'll see if they make it

I know it's been too long since a post - I thought about doing a recap and catch up. I thought about it but there's been a bunch and it would take too long, so I'm sticking with the present thoughts and hoping to do a better job keeping up with it.
So I usually start thinking about what to do for birthdays and Christmas presents well in advance and then sometimes I get this idea stuck in my head that I won't lose. So Addy's first birthday will be in less than 2 months (yeah that doesn't seem possible) and I kept thinking that a play kitchen would be great. We have a lot of the baby toys and honestly buying for a 1 year old was hard with Noah and now that we've had 2 previous 1 year birthdays I'm just not sure what else there would be. I also didn't want to get something for her that she'd simply outgrow in 6 months or something that would take her 6 months to even use at all. A kitchen seemed perfect, even if all she does at 1 is cruise around it and try to climb on it she'd enjoy it and would grow into it. I knew the boys would enjoy it too, they loved playing with the one at the learning center when we were in Bellevue. Well I didn't want a plastic one - it will be in the play area of the living room and I'm just not a huge fan of tons of plastic. They are pricey to begin with and the wood play kitchens that seem sturdy are outrageous! I saw several websites/blogs where people transformed night stands and such into play kitchens. PERFECT! SO we stopped at a thrift store this afternoon and I found an entertainment center that was very sturdy and I thought would be perfect. I may be a bit too excited about the project, really excited to see how it turns out and to see them all enjoying it. Mike even let me do the sawing when it was time to take the top off.You can see that we started with something pretty sturdy, so hopefully it will withstand the years of abuse - I mean play that it will see!